When the World's Not Ending
by smartalec121
Summary: Daily life for the Tamers is more than just saving the world. It's also random bio-emergences, schoolyard bullies, and board games among other things.
1. A Small Problem

Disclaimer: I STILL do not own _Digimon_ or any of its characters. This is a nonprofit, fan-based story. Please support the official release.

* * *

**A Small Problem**

"W-What did you do?" Takato Matsuki asked, both his voice and eyes filled with disbelief.

Lopmon kept quiet, partially because she was a little ashamed. Her first encounter with the Tamers' de facto leader came almost immediately before his bio-merging with Guilmon for the first time, so she always thought of him as the group's white knight who was steadfast in the face of any challenge. Seeing both Takato and Guilmon currently unsure of what to do about the situation in front of them made her feel as though she had _really_ done something wrong.

To top things off, the scene in they had stumbled on was far from a conventional one. Guilmon's expression seemed to be going back and forth between shock and sadness as his gaze alternated between the utility shed he used to live in and the Tyranomon wedged in its entrance.

"That sounds like a loaded question to me," Suzie Wong answered, not nearly as worried as Lopmon was. This wasn't really a surprise to Lopmon, of course, as Suzie's confidence had always grown with her ability as a Tamer. She was far from the little girl she had been when they were first partnered together three years ago.

"I just don't understand how this could have happened," Takato said, trying his best to be the understanding person he usually was.

"Is _how_ this happened really more important than just figuring out a solution?" Suzie asked innocently.

"I think so," Guilmon muttered sadly.

"Let's agree to disagree."

"Have it your way then," Takato said with a sigh. He turned his full attention to Lopmon. "Okay, what happened?"

"Uh..." was Lopmon's initial reply, as she was unsure how to respond. Lying was out, as she had never been very good at it, but she didn't want to go against Suzie.

"You don't have to say anything, Lop," Suzie cut in quickly. "Remember that you have rights."

"No one's going to get in trouble, Lopmon," Takato assured her, his voice now completely calm and supportive. "I just think this would be easier to sort out if we had all the facts."

Looking from Takato to her pleading partner and then back again, Lopmon took a deep breath. "Well, when you put it like that..." she began.

* * *

"It started with a bio-emergence a little earlier this afternoon. We were the closest, and since the digimon in question was only at Champion-level, we figured we could handle it on our own. Not to get sidetracked, but I _don't _this to sound like I'm bragging. We just know that you guys are older and busier now, and we just want to do our part, so-"

"Take a breath, Lop," Suzie said to stop her rambling.

"Right, sorry... Anyway, we head towards this digital field, which is a couple blocks away from the park. Except that by the time we arrived, the field had already dissipated and Tyranomon was wandering around the street, smashing cars and the like. Naturally, we saw this and assumed the worse, so we didn't waste any time jumping into the fray.

"I lept forward, taking Tyranomon by surprise and knocking him off his feet. He didn't retaliate right away, so I decided that was the best time to give him a warning. I told him he had one chance to leave peacefully, and that I wouldn't hesitate to destroy him if he continued to threaten this city."

"You _did_ say that, didn't you?" Suzie commented.

"I believe in being fair but firm! And it payed off. Turned out that Tyranomon really wasn't interested in starting a fight. He was just a little disoriented from finding himself here in the Real World. So, just like we always do when wild digimon surrender peacefully, we offered to take him to the portal under the shed. That's where things got complicated."

"I figured that much," Takato remarked.

"Well, you know how it is. Typically, it's the smaller digimon that agree to return home. It didn't occur to us until we got here how difficult getting Tyranomon to an underground portal would be."

"That doesn't explain why you didn't just call someone to come help you."

"I said the same thing, but Suzie kept insisting that we'd be able to figure things out for ourselves. So, we sat and thought about it for a while. We knew we couldn't move the portal, and digging up the park to get closer to it didn't seem like a good idea, which didn't leave us with many other options. That's when you showed up."

* * *

"Sorry..." Lopmon said meekly as she turned towards Suzie. Despite believing that no harm could come from telling the truth, Lopmon couldn't help but feel as though she had committed some kind of betrayal. Thankfully, her partner wasn't as disappointed as she thought she would be.

"Don't worry about it, Lop," Suzie replied. "Asking you to lie is like asking Terriermon to stop talking."

Over the course of the story, Guilmon had digivolved into Growlmon and was in the process of pulling Tyranomon from the shed's entrance. There was a momentary struggle, probably more the result of the saurian not wanting to cause any more damage to his former home, but soon the wild digimon was set free.

"Well, there's that problem solved at least," Takato commented to no one in particular.

"Antylamon could've done _that_," Suzie chimed in. "We're not any closer to getting this giant bozo home."

"No offense!" Lopmon added quickly after noticing Tyranomon tilt his head at Suzie's words. The last thing they needed was the for the digimon to become upset because of name-calling

"I know," Takato said as he pulled out his D-Power, pushing a couple buttons and pointing it in the general direction of the portal. "Just give me a sec."

"I already tried this and nothing happened," Suzie declared as she did the same with her own device.

"Well, it _should_!" Takato shook his D-Power next to his head. "If the D3's can open the digiport, than our digivices should at least be able to manipulate the portal a little bit."

"Based on what evidence?"

"Hey, cut me some slack! I'm trying over here!"

"Don't you let your fiery temper get out of control with me!" Suzie snapped back, jabbing one of her index fingers up at Takato's face. "I'd like to keep my head on my shoulders, thank you very much!"

With that, both D-Powers lit up. Lopmon wasn't sure if a direct result of their yelling or just a coincidence, but she wouldn't get a chance to ask. The lights the devices emitted converged on the shed, resulting in a larger version of the portal appearing at the entrance. Without hesitation, Tyranomon strolled over to the portal and disappeared.

Lopmon didn't speak, waiting on someone else to be the one to break the silence. Aside from Growlmon returning to his Rookie form, there was no movement for quite a few seconds.

"So..." Suzie finally said, a nervous grin on her face. "What are the chances we can just forget this ever happened?"

It was at that moment that the portal closed, quickly followed by the shed's gate falling off its hinges.

"And what are we supposed to say to the others when they see this?" Takato asked.

"Can we fix it?" Guilmon asked, still saddened by the state of the shed.

Not that Lopmon felt his feelings were unjustified. She was sure that if she returned home that night and found the apartment collapsing in on itself, she'd be upset as well.

"I'll talk to Dad later and see if he knows anyone who can help out," Takato answered, trying to sound reassuring.

"And if he doesn't?" Guilmon persisted.

"We'll think of something, boy."

"Yeah..." Suzie added. "No reason to worry about _anything_."

"You're not out of hot water just yet."

"Oh, come on! You never would have even known this was me if you didn't _happen_ to come by at the worst possible moment." Suzie then went silent, as she often did when she was thinking something over. "Why _are_ you out here anyway?"

"That's..." Takato hesitated, having obviously not been expecting the question. "...not what we're talking about."

Lopmon then heard another set of footsteps climbing the stairs towards them. She was never one to believe in coincidences, but she found herself questioning this upon turning and seeing Rika Nonaka slowly approaching them.

"What the hell happened here?" Rika asked once she saw the shed.

"I'm more curious about what's _happening _here," Suzie replied, mischievous smile forming on her face.

Rika's attention snapped away from the shed. Much like Takato, she was caught off guard by whatever Suzie was insinuating. "Don't know what's going through your head right now, but it's not that."

"If that's the case, then you wouldn't mind telling me when my brother's gonna get here." Suzie casually looked away from Rika and up at the trees as she spoke.

"Does it matter?" Rika growled before looking over to Takato, who laughed nervously.

"I think it does a little bit."

"Hold on, Suzie," Lopmon whispered, not quite following what was going on. "I thought we _didn't_ want Henry to find out about this." If anyone would lecture Suzie for breaking the shed, it would be him.

Suzie returned her focus to the two older Tamers. "He's not coming, is he?"

"I'm still confused."

Lopmon didn't get many answers after that, but Suzie did explain to her what blackmail was during the walk home.

* * *

_So I was working was what was going to be my next project for this site and ended up throwing it out. I realized there wasn't much of a story there, with my favorite parts being subplots that could easily be repurposed at a later time. This story came about as something to do while I regroup. I've been meaning to try writing a few oneshots anyway, and realized I had just enough ideas for Tamers focused stories that I should just create a small collection instead. As far as what to expect here, tone and length may vary a bit. I can see myself just writing single scenes, shorter than this one, as well as more complete stories. I'm also playing with the idea of including loose arcs that connect the individual entries here, but don't hold me to that._

_I've added a brief guide to my other works to my profile for newcomers. I do see this as part of the same continuity as my other fics, though I'm not sure how much I'm going to call back to them just yet. There is the fact _Mirrors _left Takato and Rika trying to figure what (if any) kind of relationship they wanted to have, but I feel like accepting something like that is barrier to entry with most fan fiction._

_All that said, thanks for taking the time to read. Leave a review if you feel up to it, and hopefully I'll be able to update soon._


	2. Sympathetic Villains

_To the **guest **who reviewed last chapter, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope you keep reading too._

Disclaimer: I do not own _Digimon_ or any of its characters. This is a nonprofit, fan-based story. Please support the official release.

* * *

**Sympathetic Villains**

Despite a reputation for being a badass who played by his own rules, Impmon was still very protective of his human partners. So, when one of them came home covered with dirt and bruises, it was no surprise to anyone that this made him upset. What Impmon _did _find surprising were some of the specifics of how this occurred.

"What da ya mean ya didn't fight back?" Impmon cried out, a little more annoyed that Mako wouldn't turn away from emptying his school bag onto his bed.

"I just didn't wanna," Mako replied dismissively, which raised more questions than it answered. If there was one person Impmon could always count on to be ready to jump into a fight, it was Mako. "Can we not talk about this?"

"This isn't the first time this has happened either," Ai chimed in from her spot in the doorway of her brother's bedroom. "Kazuma's been picking on him for a couple weeks now. This is just the first time he hit him."

"Just leave it alone, Ai." Mako raised his voice as he looked at his sister. "This has nothing to do with you."

"Fine!" Ai rolled her eyes. "See if I care if you get beat up every day."

Impmon clenched his fists together, feeling nothing but anger at the thought of some snot-nosed brat laying a finger on one of _his_ humans. "Is it just cuz he's bigger den you?" he asked. "Cuz if dat's da case, I'll show 'em-"

"No!" Mako shouted, dropping what he was doing to give Impmon and Ai his full attention. He then took a deep breath and collected himself again. "It's just... he's not worth it. Got it?"

"No, I don't," Impmon answered, trying his best to understand. "Look, Mako, if there's somethin' else goin' on here, you gotta tell me. I can help."

"I know, but I don't want you getting involved. You just have to trust me on this one."

Impmon and Ai vacated the room and the door closed behind them. Impmon looked to his other partner, who only shook her head sadly and headed to her own bedroom. It looked like she wasn't going to be any help either.

Unsure about what to do next, Impmon wracked his brain for a solution. He _did_ trust Mako, which was the only reason he wasn't marching to this Kazuma's house to give the kid a taste of his own medicine. That, however, did not leave his hands completely tied. Impmon needed answers, and he knew just the digimon to help him get them.

* * *

"_Wow wow wow wow wow, I wonder if we'll reach the skies..._" Calumon's singing wasn't exactly quiet. In fact, Impmon was sure if anyone had been on the streets below them, they would have been able hear the lyrics word-for-word.

It took all of Impmon's willpower to not knock the little Celestial off the ledge he was walking on. He looked Renamon, the digimon he had _actually _asked to come with him, but she did not acknowledge him. Not that Impmon was going to let that discourage him from complaining.

"Why's he here again?" Impmon asked.

"Because he asked to come," Renamon answered as though it were obvious, which annoyed Impmon even more. There was no question that the yellow fox digimon enjoyed making him come across as an idiot.

"You don't think dat's a little counterproductive to what we're doin'?"

"We're spying on a human child. Hardly someone we need to be concerned about tipping off." Renamon came to halt, looking at the house across the street from the one they had come to a rest on. "Is this it?"

"I think so..." Impmon squinted as he tried to inspect the property. Ai hadn't been able to give him an exact address. Just a general area and an old yearbook photo of the kid in question.

Looking into the kitchen window, they saw the boy finishing dinner with his parents. Nothing of note seemed to be going on other than that. Impmon zeroed in on the boy himself. This "Kazuma" had short black hair and seemed to be a bit bigger than Mako.

"What do we do now?" Calumon asked, speaking louder than Impmon would have liked.

"We wait," Impmon answered, trying to keep his concentration.

"For what?"

"I don't know, Calumon!" Impmon snapped. "Stop askin' stupid questions!"

Calumon didn't flinch at the yelling, instead looking at Impmon and tilting his head. "Well, what kind of questions should I ask?"

"What do you hope to accomplish here when Mako specifically asked you to not get involved?" Renamon asked before Impmon had a chance to reach out and try to strangle Calumon. The kitsune looked right at him, now refusing to acknowledge the boy across the street.

"I... don't know," Impmon responded. He looked back and forth between Renamon and the family across the way. "I just don't get what's goin' through Mako's head."

"Maybe he's just learning how to pick his battles," Renamon offered.

"But dat also means knowin' when you _have _ta fight."

"Fair enough." Renamon paused just long enough for Impmon to return his attention forward. "It could also be a matter of empathy."

"I don't see how gettin' beat up by dis kid would make Mako feel sorry fer 'em." Impmon watched Kazuma excuse himself from the kitchen before returning to his conversation with Renamon.

"An individual taking out his own inferiority on others. I guess it does sound absurd when I say it out loud." Renamon's brand of sarcasm was subtle, but easy to identify once Impmon got used to it.

"It kinda sounds like you're talking about Impmon," Calumon chimed in, probably having never tried to be subtle in his entire life.

"Yeah, well, dis kid hasn't ben beatin' up by anyone as far as I can tell," Impmon countered. He looked back at the house, still no sign of Kazuma. "At least not yet."

"Just try to keep an open mind," Renamon replied. "Regardless of whether or not you learn to sympathize with this child, you don't want to do anything rash."

Conversation died down for the most part after that. Time passed and Kazuma did eventually reappear, but only to enter his bedroom and then go to bed a little after. The only light that remained on was the boy's parents watching TV in the living room.

"Well, I guess tonight's a bust," Impmon complained. He didn't want to give up, but there also didn't seem to be much to gain from sitting on the house any longer.

"Unless we want ask the parents what trauma their son suffered to make him a schoolyard bully," Renamon suggested, though Impmon couldn't tell if she was serious or not.

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Calumon nearly shouted, apparently not sharing Impmon's lack of clarity on Renamon's suggestion. Before anyone could stop him, he was leaping off the rooftop and floating towards the home they had been casing.

Impmon looked to Renamon, who was more than fast enough to stop Calumon before he made it to his destination. The kitsune merely shrugged instead, apparently having no interest intervening. Impmon growled in response before jumping to the street below in pursuit.

He managed to intercept Calumon just before he made it to the living room window, tackling the tiny white digimon right into a nearby bush. Impmon was sure to cover his mouth too, not wanting the home's residents to be alerted to their presence by Calumon's whining.

"We cool?" Impmon whispered, only releasing his hold once he received a nod from the Celestial.

"I was just trying to help," Calumon whispered back.

"Yeah, by givin' me a heart attack."

Impmon was about to get up and leave, but stopped. He was now close enough that he clearly hear what was going on just beyond the window above them, and two sounds in particular caught his attention.

The first was the newscast playing on the television set. "_Eyewitnesses confirm that a digimon was responsible for the damage sustained by this neighborhood_," the reporter recited. "_Hypnos has declined to comment_."

The second was commentary from Kazuma's father. "We'd all be better off if the government would just kill all those monsters."

* * *

Having an entire day to think about what he heard did not help Impmon in the slightest. Not only was he now angry, but he had no easy way to intervene. What he wanted to get his hands on the little punk and teach him a lesson or two, but that would be playing into the ideas that the boy's father had filled his head with. In the end, stepping in had the potential to not only make things worse for Mako, but the Tamers as a whole.

None of this kept Impmon from following his partners to school so he could watch over them. As the final bell rang, he waited for Ai and Mako to leave school grounds on a large tree just outside the premises. They eventually appeared, with Suzie walking just ahead of them. Lopmon was absent to Impmon's surprise, as the youngest Wong had always shown less discretion when it came to bringing her partner to school.

Impmon assumed the three of them were in the clear once they passed under him, but any relief he felt disappeared when Kazuma pushed his way out of the mass of students. Flanked by two other boys who weren't quite as tall as him, Kazuma grabbed hold of Mako's backpack and yanked hard, causing Mako to fall backwards.

Impmon's finger twitched as he watched this happened, igniting a flame at the tip of it. He had to grab hold of his own wrist to keep himself from hurling it at Kazuma.

"Seriously?" Suzie almost yelled as she and Ai kneeled down next to Mako. She seemed more annoyed than surprised.

"What?" Kazuma asked smugly, basically asking for a couple of slaps. "I was just trying to get his attention."

"Yeah, and I guess using your words made your brain hurt too much," Suzie shot back as she stood up.

Kazuma's expression turned into a scowl as the insult registered. "You'd better watch yourself, pipsqueak."

"What for?" Suzie's own expression was replaced by a childish smile. "I'm willing to bet only one of us knows martial arts."

"Drop it, Suzie," Mako cut in as he stood up. "It's no big deal."

"See, listen to your friend," Kazuma taunted. "He understands how things _should_ be."

Suzie looked away from the bully and over to Mako. After taking a few seconds to consider, she sighed and turned to leave, motioning for the others to follow. Kazuma, apparently satisfied with himself, did nothing to keep Mako from following. Ai, on the other hand, stood her ground.

"And how _should _things be, Kazuma," Ai said venomously. She was angry, an emotion Impmon only saw from her when she was dealing with Mako or himself.

Impmon wasn't sure what to do. He hadn't anticipated this, and while Ai never gave any indication that she wouldn't want him stepping for her sake, things hadn't really changed either. At that moment, he was stuck trying to figure out what kind of regrets he was willing to live with.

"You 'Tamers' and your freaky friends think you own this city and need to be put in your place," Kazuma said as though his words were fact. "I thinking maybe I should start with you."

"Back off, Kazuma!" Mako yelled, fight coming back to his eyes. "We had a deal!"

"Deal?" Ai repeated as she turned around. Her anger didn't seem to be going anywhere.

"I..." Mako's new sense of conviction seemed to flicker as he looked down at the ground. "...agreed that I wouldn't say anything to anyone about Kazuma if he left you alone."

"And who gave you permission to make that deal?" Ai shouted, giving Impmon a completely new reason to be afraid of jumping into the fray.

"What are you mad at? I was looking out for you!"

"I can fight my own battles just fine, thank you very much!"

Impmon surveyed all the kids watching the argument play out. The only one not on edge was Suzie, who now seemed more interested in just seeing what would happen next. On the opposite end of that spectrum was Kazuma, who looked like he was figuring out how insignificant he had just become.

"Listen up, freaks!" Kazuma began. "I-"

"No one cares what you think!" both siblings replied in unison, causing him to take a single step back.

"Fine!" Mako shouted. "I'm sorry for not trusting you to look after yourself!"

"And I'm sorry for getting mad!" Ai returned in kind. "I know you did what you did because you care!"

"Aw..." Suzie said softly.

Impmon understood the sentiment. It was hard for him to not feel proud of his partners at that moment. Unfortunately, it was this feeling that caused him to let his guard down.

"That's it!" Kazuma yelled. "Beatin' you both up!" He lunged forward but didn't get far.

If Impmon _hadn't_ known better, he would have said that it was a gust of wind that knocked Kazuma off his feet and into his two friends. They all looked around, confused and angry though not actually injured in any real way.

"Th-That..." Kazuma began. "That was one of your monsters!"

"Prove it," Ai replied. "Looked to me like you just fell over."

"Yeah," Mako added. "Maybe you should call it quits before you hurt yourself."

"This isn't over!" Kazuma called out as he and his friends got to their feet and ran off.

"Cool!" Suzie responded as she waved at them. "We'll see you tomorrow!"

The three youngest Tamers laughed before turning around and continuing their walk home. Impmon was going to follow, but decided to wait a couple minutes.

"Thanks," he said as he looked up a branch above him, finding Renamon exactly where he expected her to be.

"Well, your reflexes seemed a little slow for my taste," the kitsune replied lightly.

"Maybe I was just learnin' how ta pick my battles."

"I was told that also means knowing when you _have_ to fight."

"I guess I didn't end up havin' ta." Impmon looked in the direction Ai and Mako had left in. He knew when the two of them couldn't look after themselves, they'd look after each other. Not that he wouldn't be around to help from time to time.

Impmon gave one last nod to Renamon before departing. He assumed there would be a story waiting for him when he got home.


	3. The Games We Play

Disclaimer: I do not own _Digimon_ or any of its characters. This is a nonprofit, fan-based story. Please support the official release.

**The Games We Play**

The sound of rain pounding on the roof only added to Jeri Katou's current frustration. Not that the bad weather was the source of it. That distinction fell to the two individuals sitting directly across from her.

"Seriously, another one?" Rika Nonaka complained. It was in her house that the group was currently gathered in, playing a board game to pass the time. The game, meant to simulate adult life, had just dictated that she add a second child to her family unit. "Isn't this something I would choose for myself?"

"It wouldn't really be much of a game if you could make your own rules," Takato Matsuki teased, something he would typically avoid doing. Of course, the group dynamic had shifted a bit in the last couple months. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that means you're winning."

"That's subjective..." Rika grumbled, still annoyed but not angry at the comment. Again, not the norm the group was used to.

"Not really reassuring for you, Takato," Terriermon pointed. With the exception of Renamon, who was out of site at the moment, he was the lone digimon present. Ironically, he was also the one digimon that Rika had specifically not invited. While not actually playing the game, Terriermon seemed to be entertaining himself just fine by making commentary.

Rika flinched at the comment while Takato scratched the back of his head. The fact that the group dynamic was changing was _not _what was bothering Jeri. Rather, it was the fact that these two were trying and completely failing to hide this fact.

"W-What does that have to do with me?" Takato asked. He and nonchalance had never gone hand-and-hand.

"Nothing, I guess..." Terriermon answered, pausing to pretend to think for a second. "Or everything. I get those two confused all the time."

"Terriermon..." Henry Wong warned. Jeri turned to her left to look the boy over. He knew just as well as she did what was going on between their mutual friends. For some reason, however, he wasn't letting it get to him.

"Moumantai, Henry. We're all friends here." Terriermon took a second to glance back over to Rika and Takato one more time. "At the very least."

Rika remained in control of herself other than letting off a low growl. Terriermon obviously also knew, though this didn't seem to be a surprise to Rika. Jeri decided not to entertain the thought that he had been let in on the "secret" while she hadn't. If that turned out to be the case, this day wouldn't end well for anyone.

More oblivious than everyone else were Kazu Shioda and Kenta Kitagawa, who were sitting to Jeri's right. They had returned their attention to the game, with the former spinning the dial and moving his piece accordingly.

"Jackpot!" Kazu called out, having just been granted the opportunity to buy a nicer home. "Top that, Kenta."

"Watch me," Kenta replied eagerly. His expression quickly sank upon spinning. Apparently, he would be losing his job.

"Sucks to be you."

"Yeah, well you have fun with your big, empty house," Kenta countered as he shifted his in-game currency around.

"I will!" Kazu paused for second, likely not satisfied with his own response. "And for the record, the house isn't completely empty. I adopted a dog a few turns back, remember?"

"Please..." Rika cut in. "Guardromon Junior is just biding his time until he can run away."

"Don't you have a car full of kids to screw up?" Kazu shot back.

"Hey, that's not cool, Kazu," Terriermon said as he jumped right in between Takato and Rika. "Takato, tell him that Rika would be a great mom."

"Well, uh..." Takato began, which may have been what saved Terriermon from Rika's wrath. The redhead gave him her full attention, shooting him a look that was basically demanding he keep quiet. Takato being Takato, however, meant that the message didn't sink in. "You know, this isn't something I've actively thought about before, because this is a completely hypothetical scenario that I'm only thinking about now because you brought it up and, you know, we've talked about it enough so I think Jeri should take her turn now."

"Leave me out of this," Jeri said plainly. To get her point across, she crossed her arms and tried to glare in his direction. In her defense, the latter wasn't something she had a lot of practice at.

Takato looked around the room before returning to Jeri. "Is... everything alright, Jeri?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because you're acting weird," Rika pointed out.

"I guess there's a bit of that going around." Jeri averted her gaze from them.

"Jeri..." Henry said cautiously. "Maybe now's not the best time."

"And sometimes there's no such thing as a 'best time'." Ultimately, Jeri wouldn't say she was necessarily angry with the two of them, but more just tired of watching the same game play out. It was no secret that Takato and Rika weren't the most socially or emotionally adept individuals, so their desire for privacy was understandable. Jeri just believed there was a fine line between privacy and unnecessarily keeping secrets from the people closest to them.

"Yeah, but forcing it out of them won't help any," Henry countered. His patience was something Jeri respected, but he was sometimes too soft on his best friends for her taste.

"Are... are they talking about us?" Rika asked.

"It sounds like it," Takato answered.

"They're _definitely_ talking about us."

Jeri ignored them both. "It's not about forcing them to do anything," she continued. "I just think they can trust us and not keep something so stupid and obvious a secret."

"Who's keeping what a secret now?" Kazu asked, him and Kenta on a completely different page than everyone else.

"Takato and Rika," Terriermon said without hesitating. He had since retreated back to Henry's side, so he likely assumed he was out of Rika's reach. "They're dating now and don't want you guys to know."

There was a moment of silence, with Kazu and Kenta looking at each other, over to Rika and Takato, and then back at each other. This was immediately by the pair laughing way louder than the situation warranted.

"Yeah, right," Kazu said between breaths. "Next you'll tell me Rika likes wearing dresses n-OW!"

Kazu was interrupted by Rika's fist colliding with the back of his head. He fell forward onto the game board, sending the pieces flying in all directions. Kenta looked at his best friend's attacker like a deer in headlights.

"Oh, _dating_," Kenta exclaimed desperately. "I thought you said, uh, something else."

"Before you ask," Terriermon said proudly to Henry before he could speak. "Yes, that entire scene was totally worth it."

"You know I'm not gonna protect you from her, right?" Henry replied as he gestured over to Rika, who actually looked like she was starting to reign herself in.

"I stand by my words. It was only a matter time anyway."

"First of all," Rika grunted, pausing for a second to make sure she had everyone's attention. "I want it on the record that the two of us are _not_ dating."

"You're kidding, right?" Jeri blurted out. She turned to Takato, hoping for an honest answer.

"It's complicated," Takato answered nervously. "There's a lot of feelings from both of us there, but..." He trailed off, looking to Rika to finish the thought.

"A lot's changed in the last year," Rika explained, also nervously. "We talked, and I guess we both wanted a sense of normalcy before making any other big changes."

"Probably for the best too. I mean, we're fifteen. What do we know about being in a relationship anyway?"

"You're _both _Goggle-heads," Jeri stated, not trying to hide her disappointment.

"Hey, that's my word!" Rika snapped.

"And it fits you perfectly." Jeri pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "What does 'normal' even mean to you two, and when do you think the word will ever apply to any of us?"

"It's just not a good time, Jeri."

"So you're going to just going to keep spending time together like nothing's changed."

"Pretty much," Takato said slowly, almost like he was unsure.

"Only now a lot of that time will be just the two of you. Complete with walks through the park and plenty of stolen glances."

"Okay, _I _want it on the record that no glances are being stolen."

"You're right," Jeri conceded. "They're willingly given and received."

"I don't get it," Rika declared, turning to Takato. "What's she upset about again?"

"I was kinda hoping you'd know," he replied with a shrug.

"You two have no idea how much you deserve each other," Jeri stated, deciding to give up for the day. The two of them would find out in due time that some things were inevitable. A smirk now on her face, Jeri leaned forward to reset the game board.


	4. Where We Began

Disclaimer: I do not own _Digimon_ or any of its characters. This is a nonprofit, fan-based story. Please support the official release.

* * *

**Where We Began**

The massive, insectoid form of GranKuwagamon flew forward, mowing down any trees in its path. Even bio-merged with Guilmon in their shared form of Gallantmon, Takato was just barely able to roll out the digimon's path. He reoriented himself for a counterattack, but by this point his target had flown back into the air.

In the aftermath of the D-Reaper's defeat, Hypnos set out to drastically overhaul its security protocols. Within the year, Shinjuku saw a huge decrease in bio-emergences, with Mega-level digimon like GranKuwagamon rarely making their way through. The exception to this trend seemed to be Shinjuku Park, which Henry theorized was the result of the portal underneath the utility shed.

Takato raised his weapons to prepare for when GranKuwagamon came back around, but that moment never came. Instead, the giant insect flew towards the person they were fighting alongside.

"Rika!" Takato called out as he sprinted forwards. The Tamer in question, who was currently merged with Renamon as Sakuyamon, turned around just in time to get tackled to the ground before GranKuwagamon's could come crashing to the ground.

Knowing Rika as well as he did, Takato did not expect much in the way of gratitude. Even to this day, she still felt as though needing to be rescued was a sign of weakness on her part. The anger he saw when looking down at the shaman's face, however, still left him a bit scared.

"I was fine!" Rika snapped. As if to prove her point, she stretched her left arm past his head and called up a barrier just in time to deter GranKuwagamon's follow-up strike.

The bug's claw bounced barrier, and rather than continue, the digimon flew off again. Having a brief reprieve, Sakuyamon didn't waste any time shoving Gallantmon off her.

"I can take care of myself, Takato," Rika stated as she stood up.

"I know," Takato replied as he trained his sights on GranKuwagamon once more. "Doesn't mean I'm not gonna worry about you."

Takato eyed the the digital field around them, noting it was starting to fade. He looked to Rika, who nodded to indicate they were on the same page. Once the field was gone, GranKuwagamon would be set loose on the city and there was no telling how much destruction would follow. They had to end the fight before that happened.

They broke off in different directions, with Takato charging to meet GranKuwagamon head on. At the last second, he leapt upward and slashed his lance across one of his opponent's wings. Results of this action were mixed.

On the one hand, GranKuwagamon's flight capabilities were successfully neutralized. On the other, it caused the digimon to lash out in pain, swinging a claw wildly and catching the side of Takato's head. He crashed to the ground just behind the insectoid digimon.

Takato stood up as quickly as he could, an act made slightly more difficult by the fact that his head was still spinning. By this point, he was face-to-face with the wild digimon bearing down on him again. Luckily, this wasn't cause for concern.

"SPIRIT STRIKE!"

Four fox-shaped attacks rained down on GranKuwagamon, with each striking one of the its legs and halting its advance. This left it vulnerable to a finishing blow.

"LIGHTNING JOUST!"

A bolt of energy shot from Gallantmon's lance, hitting GranKuwagamon and reducing the wild digimon to data. Takato let off a sigh of relief before turning to face Sakuyamon, who had landed right in front of him.

"You okay?" Rika asked.

"Sure," Takato answered, dismissing his lance and tapping a finger against his head. "Thick armor."

"Thick _head_ is like it." The shaman closed the distance between them, taking hold of the knight's face-plate to examine where the claw had struck.

"Ow!" Takato winced.

"Oh, get over it."

"Guess this means you're still mad."

"Yeah, a little." Rika's tone softened, however, and she gently rested her hand against the side of Takato's head. "Doesn't mean I'm not gonna worry about you."

Takato didn't do much considering before raising his own hand placing it on hers. Again, he knew Rika well enough to know that gestures of affection weren't exactly something she was comfortable with and that what he was doing was essentially putting his person at risk. Yet surprisingly, she didn't pull away or resist. She only looked back at him nervously, or at least until...

"Ahem!" Renamon's voice jolted them both back to reality, causing them both to immediately separate.

"Are you alright, Takatomon?" Guilmon chimed in.

"I'm fine! I mean, why wouldn't I be?" Takato blurted out as they all let go of their Mega forms. He looked to Rika, who was currently avoiding eye-contact with him. "Sorry about all that. I guess I just get into the part when we become Gallantmon."

"Whatever," Rika replied, occupied with quickly tying her hair back into its signature ponytail.

"So..." Takato spaced a bit on what to say next. Even after all these years, he still occasionally felt like an idiot when he spoke to her. "You heading home?"

"Eventually..." Rika gave him her full attention now. "I was thinking about sticking around here for a little while."

"Perfect night for it." Takato looked upward, the digital field having long dissipated to reveal the stars above them. "You... want any company?"

Rika hesitated a second, obviously considering her choice of words. "You can stay if you want."

"Cool." Takato tried not to sound too eager. He then paused and turned to Guilmon, having once again almost forgotten his partner's presence. "What about you, boy? You wanna head home?"

"What should I tell Mom?" Guilmon asked in reply. A fair question, given the way Takato's mother may react if the saurian returned home alone.

"Just tell her I'll be home in a little bit."

"Okay..." Guilmon shrugged before turning to leave.

"I think I'll accompany him back," Renamon said as she turned to face Takato.

"Really?" Takato responded, trying not to sound surprised.

"Someone should keep him from getting into trouble. Besides, Rika's safe with you."

"Well, thanks, Renamon." Takato scratched the back of his head nervously. "That actually means a lot coming from you."

"And if you ever prove me wrong, I'll cut you into pieces so small that not even Guilmon will recognize you."

"Right..." Takato's entire body went cold. Renamon's words weren't a threat; they were a promise.

"Do you really think you could get the pieces that small?" Guilmon asked as the two digimon walked away. His tone was almost too casual for Takato's liking.

"I suppose we'd find out," Renamon answered in kind.

"You coming?" Rika called out to him, having already started walking.

Shaking the image of Renamon dismembering him from his mind, Takato quickly moved to catch up with her. They wandered the park for a bit, not really saying much of anything. Not that this was abnormal for the two of them. One of the _many _things that separated Rika from other girls was she never mistook lack of conversation for lack of interest in her. On the contrary, Takato knew for a fact that she sometimes preferred the complete silence.

Despite this knowledge, Takato still couldn't keep himself from running his mouth sometimes. His parents liked to refer to it as his "wonderful curse." Case in point, as the two walked into a familiar clearing, Takato couldn't find it in himself to keep quiet.

"This can't be the first time we've been back here, right?" Takato asked, coming to a halt to take in his surroundings.

"What do you mean?" Rika asked back, genuinely not knowing what he was referring to.

Takato looked at her and tilted his head. "Come on, there's no way you don't recognize this place."

Rika looked around again and her eyes widened in realization. "It's..."

"Yep." Takato plopped himself on the ground and leaned back against the chain-linked fence. The _same_ chain-linked fence that Renamon had kicked Guilmon through three years ago, thus marking his and Rika's first meeting. "I wonder how long it ended up taking them to fix it."

"Probably not that long." Rika stuck her hands in her pockets as she continued to look around. "Feels like a lifetime ago."

"I mean, it was the day after Guilmon was born, so technically..." Takato looked up at her and smiled. She only rolled her eyes at him. "Still, I remember most of it clear as day. You called Guilmon a lousy fighter but insisted a fight was a fight."

"I remember..." Rika finally sat down next to him, pulling her knees up to her chest.

Her sudden change in mood made Takato feel lousy, as he wasn't sure exactly what was making her upset. Then he figured it out, which made him feel even worse. Rika still held onto a lot of guilt about her early days as a Tamer. Having believed that digimon weren't living creatures, she had indiscriminately killed a lot of them just so that she and Renamon could become stronger. The fact that she had been set on making Guilmon one of her victims only made things worse.

Takato and Henry had both made it a point to tell her that they forgave her and that she shouldn't dwell on the past. Like GranKuwagamon, most of the wild digimon they had fought back then were a threat to the city. Even if they had had a way to send them back to the Digital World, next to none of them would have cooperated. In the end, however, the only person whose forgiveness Rika wanted was her own, something she was obviously still working towards. At that point, it became hypocritical for Takato to push the matter any further, as no one had more difficulty letting go of past mistakes than him.

Still, that didn't leave Takato completely powerless. If he couldn't get Rika to let go of her guilt, he could at least try to make her feel better by getting her to think about something else.

"That day was also the first time you called me a Goggle-head," Takato said, smiling in the hopes that the slight shift in topic would be enough to bring her back.

"I called everyone that back then," Rika replied, still not looking at him.

"Yeah, but when you said it to me, you _meant _it."

"That's not a good thing, you Goggle-head!" Rika finally turned to him. There was a pause as she looked back at him with a renewed sense of annoyance. Takato held his ground, however, and she eventually shook her head and smiled too.

"I rest my case." Anytime he could get her to smile was a win in his mind.

"Shut up..." Rika paused again and her smile dropped away. While she didn't seem sad, her expression did seem to be one of contemplation. "You think I've changed since then, right?"

Takato's own demeanor fell away too, having been caught off guard by the question. He tried not to wait too long before answering. "Yeah, a little."

"_Just _a little?" Rika seemed disappointed by the answer.

"Rika, since when do you care what other people think of you?"

"I _don't_, but you and Henry and Jeri aren't 'other people.' You're my friends. You're important to me, and I don't want anything I do to push you guys away."

"That'll never happen," Takato stated. There was no doubt in his mind.

"It will if I really haven't changed in three years." Rika looked at the ground in front of her, causing Takato's heart to sink. He was losing her again and needed to think fast.

"Hey, no..." Takato grabbed her shoulder and waited for her eyes to meet his before he continued. "Look, I just meant that I don't think the Rika I met that day was that bad a person. You were just hurting and lost. When I look at you now, I don't see a different person. I see the person I think you always were underneath."

Rika didn't respond right away, but Takato wasn't bothered by this. He knew she and vulnerability still didn't quite fit together, so he knew when to give her a minute. The fact that she hadn't hit him or just gotten up and left was a good sign.

"I think I'm gonna throw up," Rika said, somewhat succeeding in lightening the tone of her voice. "You know that everything you just said was cliché, right?"

"Sorry..." Takato replied. He let go of her shoulder to scratch the back of his head. "It was all off the top of my head."

"I guess I should at least feel better knowing that _you_ really haven't changed either. You and your thick skull, stupid optimism, and _always_ trying to see the best in people."

"I guess I've never really been able to outgrow that last one."

"And don't you ever," Rika ordered.

"I promise," Takato said, knowing she would hold him to it.

Takato stood, feeling like the two of them were in a good place now and it was okay to keep moving. He extended his hand to help Rika to her feet, and was surprised when she actually accepted it and let him pull her up to him. Their eyes met again and there was another pause.

"Any other days you wanna reminisce about?" Rika asked, still holding his hand as she spoke.

"None in particular," Takato answered. His heart was beating faster now, the result of anxiety over the gamble he was about to make. "That day was special. It's not every day that you get to meet your dream girl."

"You know Renamon's not the only one who can kill you, right?" Rika's temperament stayed even, however, and she remained in place.

"W-What are you waiting for?"

"What are _you_ waiting for?" Despite a mostly confident facade, it was obvious she was nervous as well.

"Honestly..." Takato concentrated on Rika's violet eyes, hoping that would calm his nerves. "I'm kind of expecting Henry to come out of nowhere and interrupt us."

"Oh, get over it."

And for a split second, as he placed placed his free hand on her cheek and leaned closer to her, he did. Unfortunately, that second came a hair too late. Takato's cellphone blared, causing both startled teens to jump apart.

Rika's face was red, and heat he felt on his own face told Takato he wasn't much better off. Not really knowing what else to do given the situation, he checked the caller ID on his phone and answered it.

"M-Mom?" Takato said nervously.

"I was just wondering if you could define 'in a little bit' for me," his mother responded.

"W-Well, I was... Y-You see, it's kinda like..." Takato looked to Rika for help, but she had already started walking away. Takato sighed and admitted defeat. "I'm leaving the park now."

"I hope so. I'm not stopping Guilmon if he tries to eat your dinner."

Takato hung up, too distracted to even say goodbye. Looking around his surroundings and at the girl he had almost kissed, Takato couldn't figure out if he was the luckiest or unluckiest being in two worlds. He decided the answer was both.

* * *

_So that's two Rukato-centric chapters in a row. Almost wanted to have them be two parts of the same chapter, but decided against it given the POV and tonal shift. Still not sure how many dedicated "Rukato stories" this collection will end up with. I have one or two specific stories that I'm still looking to include here, but I'm considering having their relationship recur throughout rather than a having a bunch chapters focused solely on them. I guess my chief concern here is that I want this collection to be varied, at least in terms of which characters are the focus of each chapter._


	5. Beta Testers

_So quick heads up, this will be the first chapter to make direct references to my other stories. Did my best to just keep to general plot points and not be too heavy-handed. Despite trying to keep myself to a single continuity, I do try to have it so each individual component is at least somewhat standalone. Ideally, this would be as obtuse as a chapter of this particular collection would get._

Disclaimer: I do not own _Digimon_ or any of its characters. This is a nonprofit, fan-based story. Please support the official release.

* * *

**Beta Testers**

"There's no way this is going to work."

Henry looked away from his computer screen to face his former coworker, one Alice McCoy. The blonde girl didn't look directly at him, however, as her blue eyes were trained on the monitor instead. Henry opted not to let her pessimism get to him, as she would not be standing in his apartment if she truly believed that. If anything, it just part of what had become their usual back-and-forth.

It hadn't been that long ago that the two of them didn't get along at all, something Henry had initially attributed to Alice's digimon partner sacrificing himself during the fight against the D-Reaper. Following that conflict, they wouldn't meet again until they were both offered an opportunity to be interns at Hypnos, and it was during this time that they slowly gained a mutual respect for each other. Even after their time at Hypnos ended, Henry still turned to her for input on projects like the one he was currently working on.

"I don't see why you think this is going to be so difficult," Terriermon said, probably assuming he was speaking on Henry's behalf. "It's just an instant messenger."

"An _interdimentional _instant messenger," Alice replied, not turning to face the digimon either. "And are we even considering the risks involved here?"

"Everything's being routed through the Digital World," Henry explained. "The barriers between realities are more malleable there, so Izzy thinks that we shouldn't have anything to worry about."

"So we're doing this based off the hunches of a cartoon character?"

"He's only a cartoon character in _our _reality if it makes you feel any better," Terriermon commented.

"It doesn't." Alice finally broke away from the monitor to look at Henry, a raised eyebrow essentially asking for Henry to confirm his trust in the Digidestined of Knowledge.

Objectively, Henry should have had more trouble trusting Izzy and his friends. They had only met in person the one time, during a battle against an interdimentional threat. Somehow, though, that one meeting had been enough to forge a bond of trust between the Tamers and two different groups of Digidestined. If Henry was being honest with himself, the simple fact that they had met other people with shared experiences might have been enough to do that.

That was part of the reason why Henry was set on getting this messenger to work. When it came to being a Tamer, he and his friends only really had each other to confide in. Their families tried their best, but their lack of first-hand experience meant there were limits to what they could talk about.

"Izzy knows what he's doing," Henry stated, not hesitating in the slightest. "And he had me double-check everything he did, in case _that_ makes you fell any better."

Alice only grunted in response, which roughly translated to her approval. She never argued for the sake of arguing, so her silence meant that the two of them were on the same page.

Henry didn't waste any time after that. He closed his current window so that he could initialize the software he had been working on. Within seconds, a chat window opened in the center of the screen.

_Log-in successful._

_Well, at least that works_, Henry thought as he read the message on screen. Another indicator on screen told him that Izzy was already online. He leaned forward to type a greeting.

_**Henry: **What's up?_

Even Terriermon was silent as they waited for a reply, which would serve as an indication that the program was functioning properly.

_**Izzy: **The usual for us. Hey, would you mind giving me a timestamp on this message?_

Henry checked the clock on his desktop, having a good idea what Izzy was testing.

_**Henry: **12:31_

_**Izzy: **Same on my end._

"No lag," Alice said softly. Henry wouldn't have said she was in awe, but the success of the experiment definitely had her attention.

"Again, I don't see the big deal," Terriermon complained. "Isn't that the point of an _instant_ messenger?"

"The 'big deal' is that it's instantaneous despite traveling between realities." Alice turned to Henry again. "How did you program this?"

"Not easily..." Henry answered. Difficulty at completing this task was only compounded by slower communication between realities. Prior to the program they were currently working on, their conversations were facilitated by an email system they had thrown together after their first meeting. This system took a few minutes deliver messages, and while this was not a long time in the grand scheme of things, it was a detriment when the pair of them were trying to program the exact same piece of software.

Not that all of their problems were solved now. They were still incapable of video and audio communication, and even ignoring that, Henry had no doubt that the current version of the software had a few bugs to work out. He returned to his keyboard to continue doing just that.

_**Henry:** What's our next step?_

_**Izzy: **I'd like to do some stress testing. Hold on for a few seconds._

Henry sat back and waited for and waited for more notifications to appear on screen.

_**Yolei **has joined the chat._

_**Yolei: **Hello people of the chat! What's happening?_

_**Ken **has joined the chat._

_**Ken:** Hey, guys._

There was a brief pause after Ken's message before he followed it up with a second one.

_**Ken: **Wormmon says hi too._

_**Yolei: **Tell him I said hi back!_

"Can I say 'hi' too?" Terriermon asked, eyeing the keyboard.

"No," Henry answered instinctively. He knew his partner would try to say a bit more than just "hi."

"You're no fun."

_**Ken: **Did you guys settle on a name yet?_

_**Henry: **We've touched on it. That hasn't really been a priority._

_**Yolei:** Then I degree that to be this chat's first order of business!_

"Don't you guys have something more important you should be going over?" Alice asked.

"Maybe," Henry replied with a shrug. "But this is the kind of the thing the chat's ultimately going to be used for. I say let them have at it."

"In that case, can I make a suggestion?" Terriermon asked, already on his way to the keyboard.

"No!" Henry picked up the keyboard so it was out of his reach.

"Fine, suck the joy out of everything!" Terriermon crossed his arms and turned his head away from the computer.

Henry would have been relieved if didn't know that Terriermon wouldn't give up so easily. He cautiously set the keyboard, keeping his partner in his line of sight as he turned his attention back to the monitor.

_**Izzy: **We've typically been just referring to it as the D-Chat._

_**Yolei: **That's it?_

_**Izzy:** DigiChat has also been on the table._

_**Yolei: **I'm starting to realize how much we suck at naming things._

"Which is why you should ask someone who thinks _outside_ the box," Terriermon claimed.

Henry sighed. "You know what? Fine," he said as he let Terriermon have the keyboard. "Have at it."

Terriermon said nothing in response. He only cracked his knuckles and smiled as he typed. By the time Henry realized what the digimon was doing, it was already too late.

_**Henry: **We should name it Alice, after my favorite muse._

"Terriermon!" Henry snapped as he yanked the keyboard away. Not that Terriermon could offer much resistance, as he was already on floor laughing. Henry turned to Alice. "Sorry about-"

"Just don't worry about it," she said, lifting her hand to just the right spot so he couldn't look her in the eye.

_**Henry: **Ignore that. Terriermon was just proving I should always trust my instincts._

_**Yolei: **Sounds like whenever we take Davis out in public._

_**Ken: **Yolei..._

_**Yolei: **What? You know it's true!_

"Hold up," Terriermon said as he lifted himself back onto the desk. "Let me have it back. I have a real suggestion now."

"No way," Henry replied sternly. "You've used up every chance you're ever going to get."

"Oh, moumantai, Henry. What's the worst I could do?"

Henry found himself unable to respond right away. Not because he couldn't think of an answer to the question, but because too many came to his head for him to choose from. Then, before he could choose his response, the computer monitor flickered before displaying a bright blue screen.

"Okay, I'm _pretty _sure that wasn't my fault," Terriermon said with a nervous laugh.

"Dammit," Henry grumbled under his breath. He clicked his mouse and hit a couple buttons on the keyboard, confirming the computer had crashed.

"Hardware problem?" Alice asked as she leaned closer to inspect the damage.

"Don't think so. Half this stuff is brand new."

"And what about the other half?"

"We won't know til I try to reboot this thing." Henry reached over to his computer tower to do just that.

"You're going to have to move quicker than that." Alice beat him to the reset switch. She was a type-A personality, so her efforts to take control of the process did not surprise Henry. That, however, did not mean Henry wasn't a little irritated, particularly when she tried to reach over him to take over the mouse and keyboard as well.

"Relax, I've got this." Henry took hold of her hand before she could reach the mouse, a gesture he probably wouldn't have thought much about if not for Terriermon snorting instantly afterward.

"I had no idea you could be so manly and impulsive, Henry," Terriermon teased. "Grabbing a lady's hand without permission... the shame."

Henry and Alice both paused at the comment. Feeling his face heat up, Henry slowly retracted his hand. He wanted to apologize, but wasn't sure if that would make things worse. Especially considering he was having trouble looking at the American girl now.

"Grow up," Alice whispered, sticking both her hands in her armpits and taking a step back.

"I'm pretty sure that's the problem," Terriermon commented. "Good thing I'm here to chaperone you two."

Henry glared at his partner, who only grinned in return. Said grin, however, turned into confusion and disappointment when Terriermon looked to Alice for her reaction. She had apparently decided not to pay him any mind.

They spent the next couple minutes sharing an awkward silence as the computer rebooted. Henry lept at the first opportunity he got to restart the "D-Chat," just so he could have something else to focus on. Luckily for him, Izzy, Yolei, and Ken were still present when he logged back in.

_**Henry: **Sorry, computer crash._

_**Yolei: **Same on our end._

_**Ken: **I suppose we could all run diagnostics to be sure, but I'm guessing it was a software issue. Probably a bad line of code._

_**Yolei: **I love it when you talk dirty._

Yolei's message received no replies, or at least initially.

_**Yolei:** I didn't mean to actually type that._

_**Izzy: **That was my theory._

"What about you, Alice?" Terriermon asked. He sounded like he was trying to tease her, but his usual confidence didn't seem to be present. "Should Henry start talking dirty too?"

Alice did not so much as blink at the comment, instead keeping her eyes on the chat's conversation. Henry would have been lying if he said he wasn't impressed by her composure.

Terriermon's eye twitched. "I said-"

"She's ignoring you, Terriermon," Henry stated, hoping to put the digimon out of his misery.

"W-Well, tell her she's not allowed to do that!"

Henry managed to not laugh out loud. He returned to his keyboard, sensing that their business here was almost concluded.

_**Izzy: **Ken's most likely correct. My recommendation is that we call it a day for now._

_**Henry: **Okay, I'll talk to you guys later._

After the others returned the sentiment, Henry closed the program down. He considered today's tests to be a success, all things considered.

They all ended up going quiet again, even as Henry walked Alice out of the apartment. Reaching the door, Henry decided that it was best to stop the silence. He didn't want Alice to think there was suddenly a problem between the two of them.

"Hey, thanks for coming over," Henry said just as she passed through the threshold.

"I'm not sure my presence really helped anything," Alice replied, speaking as though her statement was more an observation than a knock at her own self-worth. Not that she ever gave the sense that her confidence was ever in doubt.

"You're honest, and that goes a long way when working on a project like this." Henry smiled, hoping to get across that he was returning the sentiment. "Plus you actually understand what I'm talking about. All my other friends just smile and nod when I try to explain this stuff."

"Well, I doubt any of them are taking classes in interdimentional communication." Alice then paused for a brief moment, looking away from him for a split second before looking at him again. While she wasn't exactly smiling, she did seem to be frowning less than usual. "You're welcome."

Henry let the words sink in before deciding to push his luck. "You know, I'm meeting the rest of the gang in the park next weekend. We're not doing anything special, but you're more than welcome to join us."

"I'm busy, so I probably wouldn't be able to make it," Alice said as she started to walk away. She then paused again to turn around and look Henry in they eye. "Just let me know ahead of time in the future."

"Definitely," Henry confirmed. He closed the door behind him once she was out of sight, returning inside to find Terriermon waiting for him on the kitchen table. The smirk on the digimon's face told Henry that he had some comment to make, leaving Henry to debate whether or not he should just ignore his partner.

"You gonna invite any other girls to join the team?" Terriermon asked, his earlier lapse in conviction now gone.

"I'm not inviting anyone," Henry answered with equal conviction. "She's already one of us, Terriermon. There's no reason to treat her otherwise." Plus, if connecting scattered Digidestined was the point of what they were working on, Henry could think of no better place to start than right at home.

"Is that the only reason?" Terriermon's smile widened.

"You think I'm a sucker for a pretty face?"

"Hey, _I _didn't say anything about her being pretty."

Henry didn't reply right away, and not only because he didn't want to give Terriermon more ammunition. He used the word to describe Alice without even thinking, a notion that left him with a bit to think about.

"Something to consider the next time you ask her to come over," Terriermon said as he jumped off the table. Before he left the room entirely, he turned back around. "Just remember to keep your hands to yourself."

Henry sighed. "I'm never living that down, am I?"

"Not as long as I have a say."

Henry conceded it was a small price to pay. Again, the day had been surprisingly productive.

* * *

_The concept of the D-Chat was something I was initially dismissive of, and still am to some degree. I guess I was concerned with accidentally writing a chapter that just one long "chat" conversation (ironic considering how I tend to lean on dialogue and character interaction anyway). Hence why Henry spends more time interacting with Alice and Terriermon than Izzy, Yolei, and Ken. Not sure if I'm going to revisit the plot device, but I am considering doing a couple more, so that Rika and Takato can each have a crack at using the thing._


	6. Opposing Teams

Disclaimer: I do not own _Digimon_ or any of its characters. This is a nonprofit, fan-based story. Please support the official release.

* * *

**Opposing Teams**

The scene playing out in front of Henry was a familiar one. The entire group was gathered around a picnic table in Shinjuku Park as two of their own played the Digimon Trading Card Game. While the game was a hobby that most of them had outgrown, three of the Tamers still fit into its target demographic. Of course, this also led to a couple of the group's older members using them as an excuse to still partake in the matches that happened every so often.

Watching Kazu frustrate himself while looking over his cards, however, made Henry question whether or not this was a good thing. Again, this was a familiar scene, and not just because of the nostalgia of it. This was the fourth time in as many weeks that Kazu was playing against this particular opponent, and things were going about as well for him as they had previously.

"Nope," Suzie taunted as Kazu traced his hand over the cards he was holding. "No... not that one either." Normally, Henry would warn his sister against being overconfident, but the Kazu's track record made that lesson difficult to instill.

"Would you knock it off?" Kazu barked as slammed his cards on the table. "You don't even know what cards I have in my hand?"

"Well, not exactly." Suzie placed her index finger on her chin and looked off into the distance just to her right, essentially pretending to be deep in thought. "But I do know every card in your deck now, and no card you own can help you here." She then snapped her fingers and smiled. "Unless you've changed your deck since last week. Have you changed your deck since last week, Kazu?"

"No..." Kazu growled through his teeth.

"Well, then you're screwed."

"Suzie..." Henry warned, deciding this was where to draw the line. Her only reply was a shrug before settling down so that Kazu could take his turn.

"Okay..." Kazu said softly, allowing some of his usual overconfidence to come back to him. He placed down a modify card. "Beat that."

"Okay," Suzie replied. She set her own card down, winning the game.

"Awesome!" Mako cheered, no real regard for Kazu's wounded pride.

"That's four wins for Suzie," Ai reaffirmed softly. She wasn't so much boasting as she was happy for her friend, but that didn't seem to matter much.

"How many wins is that for you, Kazu?" Kenta asked, definitely intent on rubbing the loss in his best friend's face. Kazu had spent years mocking Kenta for how often he lost, so he wasn't going to miss an opportunity to return the favor.

"Shut up, Kenta!" Kazu snapped before turning his frustration back to Suzie. "I wanna play again."

"Why?" Suzie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"So I can win, obviously."

"But I thought we established you can't." Suzie looked around the group for support. "Seriously, did you hear a word I said?"

"Oh, I heard you..." Kazu turned back to Kenta. "Kenta, I need your cards."

"I... don't have any," Kenta replied.

"Really? You don't _any _cards on you?"

"I mean, I have MarineAngemon's modify cards, but I don't know how much good they'll do you."

"Well, they're a start." Kazu started looking from person to person, likely trying to figure out who he would have the best luck with. "What about you, Chumley?"

Takato, who had been focused on whatever he was drawing in his notebook, snapped his attention upward. "Sorry, I don't even have those on me today," he said.

"Of course not... Hey, Henry-"

"No," Henry said plainly, deciding their was no point in mincing words here. In all honesty, he couldn't figure out why Kazu expected different from any of them.

"Jeez, what kind of Tamers are you people?" Kazu continued his search until his eyes landed on his next victim. "Mako, buddy, you wanna do me a favor?"

"Uh, well..." Mako began nervously, looking to Suzie for either approval or disapproval. She only shrugged, likely not caring either way. "Sure, I guess."

"You're the best, dude!" Mako barely had a chance to pull his cards out before Kazu snatched them out of his hand. "We just need a little time to get set."

"Take all the time you want," Suzie replied as she and Ai walked off, heading towards a large tree not too far from the table.

Henry looked to rest of his friends, none of them really surprised by Suzie's choice to leave. Henry doubted any of them wanted to watch Kazu obsess over a lost cause, and he considering following his sister's lead. Before he could, however, Jeri stood up and beat him to it.

"I'm gonna get out of the sun," Jeri explained.

Without giving an explanation herself, Rika stood up to follow. This caught Takato's attention, who up to this point seemed content to continue drawing while Kazu picked apart Mako's card collection.

"You're leaving too?" Takato asked. He wouldn't ask her to stay, as much as he obviously wanted her to.

"Yeah," Rika answered as she turned back to face him. "Watching Kazu bang his head against a wall goes from funny to sad pretty quickly." She didn't waste another beat before resuming her departure.

"Yeah, well, we'll see who's sad when I win the next game," Kazu called out to her.

"I don't think she has to worry about that," Takato commented as he returned to his notebook.

"You sayin' I can't win?"

"Well, your history kinda speaks for itself," Kenta chimed in.

"What history?" Not surprisingly, Kazu's fragile ego was showing again.

"As far as I know, you've never beaten Suzie, Henry, or Rika," Kenta listed off. "Takato's beaten you more times than you've beaten him."

"Alright, I get it, Kenta..."

"Hell, even Jeri beat you the one time you forced her to play against you."

Kazu jumped upward to get in Kenta's face. "I said I get it!"

Henry sighed and shook his head. He wondered if it was too late to follow the girls' example.

* * *

While Jeri's departure from the table had meant to be a way avoid listening to Kazu obsess over a card game, she found herself enjoying the side effects of her decision. The temperature was fair and a nice breeze had kicked up. It was also quiet so far, with the only noise coming from Suzie and Ai, who were sitting across from her.

Leaning against the tree next to Jeri was Rika, who was keeping to herself. Jeri found this funny in its own way. Rika acted like she preferred the quiet and would rather be alone, but she could have gone anywhere else in the park for that. Though she would never admit it, she had gotten too used to being around the others to go anywhere else.

"Funny how no one else seems to be around today," Ai pointed out suddenly, looking around the Tamers' immediate vicinity.

Her observation was correct. Besides them and the boys still sitting around the picnic table, the area's only other occupants were the digimon. The lot of them were playing tag, or at least one of Calumon's complicated variants of it.

"We have a nice spot here," Jeri said. "It's not the shed, but it'll do."

"Yeah..." Ai's half-hearted reply was followed by a quick but noticeable glance towards Suzie.

"What?" Suzie asked suspiciously.

"Nothing!" Ai replied nervously, usually one to avoid stirring up trouble with people who weren't her brother or Impmon. "I was just thinking it's a shame that a Tyranomon got wedged in the door."

Suzie snapped her attention towards Rika. "You said you wouldn't tell anyone!"

"I didn't," Rika said casually, not even bothering to face her accuser.

"Who did then? Takato wouldn't have said anything."

"Have you met him?" Rika's reply wasn't an unfair one. While Takato would never intentionally go back on his word, he was often too absentminded for his own good.

Still, Jeri was unconvinced the revelation of whatever part Suzie had played in damaging the shed was the root of problem. While Rika and Suzie never actually fought, it did seem like some kind of small competition had started between them. Suzie in particular seemed set at beating Rika at something, thought at what Jeri hadn't figured out yet.

"Maybe we should drop this," Jeri suggested, not looking to take sides here.

"Who blabbed, Ai?" Suzie asked, ignoring Jeri. "Tell me, now!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Ai called out, not thriving under the pressure of being in Suzie's crosshairs.

_So much for the quiet_, Jeri thought as she looked away.

* * *

As Kazu and Kenta continued to bicker, Henry tried to find something else to concentrate on. Eventually, the digimon ended up in his eye-line. Even with them enjoying their game, he couldn't help but worry about them a little bit. There was always a risk in bringing them out in public like this, given the public's very mixed feelings towards them. Henry hated to admit it, but that fear of digimon was likely why they currently had this section of the park to themselves. On the bright side, people staying away was preferable to the handful of run-ins they had with digimon protesters.

Henry decided to drop the line of thought altogether, feeling as though there was more important things to focus on than hate and fear. He looked back at his friends, finding Mako looking in the digimons' direction as well. Henry understood, knowing that the boy would at the very least be more comfortable playing with them than being stuck next to Kazu.

"Why don't you go join them, Mako?" Henry suggested.

"Because he's having fun right where he is," Kazu said before Mako got a chance to answer himself.

"I guess..." Mako said as he sunk lower in his seat.

"Why are you holding him hostage again?" Henry asked, knowing that he wouldn't like any answer that Kazu gave.

"Relax, Henry; no one's being held hostage." Kazu held up Mako's cards as though that made everything okay. "Mako's just helping me."

"No, _you're _helping _yourself_," Takato corrected.

"Why is this so important to you anyway?" Henry asked, hoping that changing his question would yield a clearer answer.

"As if you don't know the answer already..." Kazu said as he shook his head. "Explain it to them, Kenta."

"I'm with them, actually," Kenta replied. "Who cares if you can't beat Suzie?"

"First of all, I _can _beat her. Secondly, it's important because..." Kazu proceeded to explain his reasoning, which only convinced Henry to try and tune out Kazu's voice.

* * *

Suzie sat back down after a bit to shuffle through her cards, though Jeri knew that the younger girl's hunt for answers wasn't over. She didn't give up easily, and was likely just biding her time for now. Still, Jeri was looking to keep things calm, so she took the momentary silence as an opportunity to shift the conversation.

"Are you changing up your strategy for the next game, Suzie?" Jeri asked.

"No," Suzie answered, sounding almost disinterested in the topic.

"Why not?" Jeri questioned further. In addition to wanting to keep the conversation going, she was also a little curious about the girl's reasoning. "Isn't that what Kazu's doing?"

"Kazu's changing his _cards_, not his strategy."

"Is there a difference?" Ai asked, suddenly becoming interested as well.

"_Big _difference," Rika chimed in.

"Kazu's entire playing style is based around brute force," Suzie explained. "It doesn't matter what cards he has. He'll always assume that might makes right, which makes him predictable."

"It's actually kinda sad how little he's learned." Rika's assertion was harsh, but again not inaccurate. It also didn't help that Kazu often refused to admit his own faults.

"Honestly, he should learn to take his cues from the others."

"I guess you can't be surprised, though," Ai added, seeming a bit nervous. "He's not as smart as Henry is."

"I guess not," Suzie replied, obviously not finding how specific Ai's statement was as weird as Jeri did.

"Or as cute."

Suzie's cards fell from her hand. "What?"

Ai's face turned red, as she probably hadn't meant to say that last thought out loud. "I-I... said I think Henry's cute."

"No, I heard the words. They just don't make sense when you use them in the same sentence." Suzie looked around the group, now searching for a completely different set of answers. Her luck at finding them was about the same.

"Well, tough!" Ai's nervousness went away as she suddenly turned to face Suzie, conviction in her eyes. "Love doesn't have to make sense!"

"You think you're in love with my brother?"

"I don't _think_ anything."

Jeri had to use all her willpower to not laugh out loud. She couldn't decide what was more adorable: Suzie's frustration or Ai's first crush.

"But... Henry?" Suzie questioned. "He's all old and serious all the time and into nerdy stuff and _old_."

A small part of Jeri wanted to bring up the way that Suzie used to adore Ryo, but kept quiet for a couple reasons. Firstly, she didn't want to call a ten-year-old a hypocrite, and secondly because the thought of Ryo brought her back to Suzie's scuffle with Rika a few minutes. She wondered if it was just the result of misplaced jealousy on Suzie's part, but again chose to keep quiet about it. Instead, she filed the thought away as something for later consideration.

"I prefer to think of him as thoughtful, intelligent, and mature," Ai said as though she were lost in some kind of daydream. Her gaze drifted back towards the picnic table as she spoke.

"That's really sweet, Ai," Jeri said, trying to be as supportive as she could. "But I think Suzie's just concerned that there's a bit of an age gap between you and Henry. He might have trouble thinking of you in the same way."

"That's okay. I can wait for him to be ready."

"Yeah, but I don't think Alice will wait that long," Suzie commented as she picked her cards back up.

Ai twitched at the mention of the name. "Who's Alice?"

* * *

"Excuse me, but what?" Takato blurted out, dragging Henry's attention back to Kazu's rant.

His focus had been briefly shifted towards the girls when Ai had suddenly started yelling. He decided to forget about it, partially because he couldn't make out what she was saying but mainly because he knew her distress had nothing to do with him.

"You heard me, Chumley," Kazu answered. "Ladies dig a winner."

"Winners at a card game designed for children?" Takato probed.

Kazu hesitated for a second. "Yep."

"Alright, then which 'ladies' are you trying to impress? Because the last time I checked the only girls around here are ten and..." Takato trailed off as his line of sight moved to girls in the distance. Then realization hit. "Really, Kazu?"

Henry shook his head and willed himself to stay quiet. He wasn't about to get dragged into whatever Kazu was trying to sell.

"Really," Kazu confirmed, obnoxious grin on his face.

"Do you really think _Jeri_ cares whether you win or not?" Takato asked, sounding like he hadn't quite wrapped his head around the conversation they were having. "Especially with you being the sore winner you are."

"Eh, girls don't know what they want til you show 'em."

Takato gripped his pencil tighter. For the first time that Henry could think of, Takato looked like he wanted to punch Kazu in the face. Normally Henry would just say that Takato was just being overprotective of Jeri, but Kazu's comments weren't sitting well with him either.

"Maybe take it down a notch, Kazu," Henry suggested. "You're talking about our friend, not a piece of meat."

"Why are you guys getting so bent out of shape about this?" Kazu asked. "Aren't the Ice Queen and Morticia enough for you two?"

"You're being disrespectful," Henry answered, deciding to let _all _the insinuations of his last question go. At least for the time being.

"Just tell him like it is, guys," Kenta cut in before turning to Kazu. "You don't have a chance with Jeri."

"Based on what?" Kazu shot back.

"Facts. She called me sweet the other day. Sorry, pal, but she's already chosen her man."

"Aw, nuts..." Takato said under his breath. "Not him too."

"You're really surprised that you weren't the last person to have feelings for Jeri?" Henry asked. The girl in question was outgoing, smart, and fun to be around. Looking at things objectively, it was only a matter of time before interested parties started to show themselves.

"I guess not." Takato looked on as Kazu and Kenta continued to argue in front of him.

"First off, you're delusional!" Kazu yelled. "Second, I _so_ do have a chance!"

"Only a chance at striking out!" Kenta countered.

"Are girls really all you guys think about?" Mako asked as he slowly slid away from Kazu.

"I..." Takato began before pausing to look at his notebook as he considered his answer. "...don't have an easy answer for you, Mako. You'll see when you're older."

"The short answer is some of us more than others," Henry added as he glanced at Takato's notebook. He didn't actually have to see what was on the page to guess who the subject was. "Sometimes it's just the one girl, depending on your luck."

Takato took a second before catching on to what Henry was implying. His response was to slowly close the book and lean on top of it, almost as though he were trying to make sure it stayed shut.

"Sounds awful," Mako stated.

"You have no idea," Takato confirmed before turning his attention back to Kazu and Kenta. "Alright, guys... enough!"

Henry sat back as Takato switched over to "leader mode," getting his two arguing friends in order by switching their focus back to the card game. It was not an easy feat, but Takato did manage to show off the years of practice he had at the job. Henry had trouble deciding whether or not he was disappointed, given how rarely he had to step in to help him nowadays.

* * *

"...because she's a hussy who thinks because she traveled across an ocean she can just take whatever she wants! And... and..." Ai trailed off, now out of breath. Not that this surprised Jeri, given the colorful vocabulary she had just run through.

"You feel better?" Suzie asked dryly.

"No," Ai whined. "And now my chest hurts."

"You'll survive," Suzie reassured her friend as they shifted to a different topic of conversation.

"Well, that was dramatic," Rika observed, speaking softly so that only Jeri noticed.

"Let her be," Jeri replied. "She's still got a bit to learn about love."

Rika snorted. "First thing she has to learn is that love is something you only find in fairy-tales."

Jeri held in her laugh. Not because she didn't want hurt anyone's feelings, but because Rika had left set herself up to get knocked down and Jeri was not about to pass on the opportunity. "That's a bold declaration coming from someone whose boyfriend can literally turn into a white knight."

"He's _not_ my boyfriend." Rika tried to keep her composure, but Jeri could tell she had hit her mark. Jeri had initially worried that Rika's denials about her relationship with Takato would grow old, but for her, the fun of them had come back around.

"Whatever you say, your Majesty."

"Don't try to be cute, Katou." Rika's use of Jeri's last name was usually a sign that she'd had enough.

"Who's trying?" Rika glared at Jeri, causing her to cave. "_Fine_, but can I ask one more question?"

"Go ahead," Rika answered begrudgingly.

"What word would you use to describe your feelings for him then?" Jeri asked, doing her best to speak genuinely again.

Rika looked over to Takato, almost like she needed to see him before she could put her words together. He was talking to Kazu and Kenta, showing an authority that Jeri didn't think _anyone _believed he would ever have. It was moments like these that made her question whether he was the same boy who used to doodle in the back of Ms. Asaji's class or someone else entirely.

"I trust him," Rika said finally. "More than I do any other human being."

That sounded like love to Jeri, but she didn't say so out loud. Rika would catch on eventually, assuming she hadn't already.

Then, with ridiculously perfect timing, Takato waved them back over. None of the girls rushed back, most of them probably feeling like the outcome was guaranteed.

"You ready to lose?" Kazu asked, usual cockiness now back.

"Yeah, yeah..." Suzie answered dismissively as she sat down.

Ai picked a spot between Suzie and Henry. "Is this seat taken?" she asked the latter innocently.

"It's all yours," Henry answered, obviously not looking into any of the subtext of the question. He acknowledged Jeri and Rika as they reclaimed their spots. "You guys talk about anything interesting?"

"Just the usual angst," Jeri replied. "You?"

"Same."

"And girls," Mako said absentmindedly.

"Really?" Rika asked. She looked to Takato, who only laughed nervously.

"Actually, it was mostly about Jeri," Mako added.

"Me?" Jeri would have been lying if she said she wasn't a little concerned.

"All good things," Kenta said quickly. "Not that there are any bad things to begin with."

"Okay..."

"Just shut up, Kenta," Kazu cut in. "Jeri's gotta focus on me kicking Suzie's ass."

"Did you just threaten to beat up my little sister?" Henry asked, not _quite _angry yet. In his defense, he had probably had enough of Kazu for one day.

"It's not really a threat if you can't back it up," Rika pointed out.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kazu snapped.

"I'm saying that a ten-year-old girl would beat _you_ up." Rika rolled her eyes as spoke. "Suzie's right; you really don't pay attention."

"The more things change..." Takato said softly as he opened his notebook up to a blank page.

With that, Jeri refocused on the game being played in front of her. She decided that she would be best off if she stopped reading into things for one day.

* * *

_Growing up, I always hated the inevitable "boys vs girls" episode that every show would do. So naturally, that's the exact kind of chapter I decided to write here. Nothing else really to say about this one. It doesn't really have much of a plot. It's basically just pure character interaction._


	7. The Wager

Disclaimer: I do not own _Digimon_ or any of its characters. This is a nonprofit, fan-based story. Please support the official release.

* * *

**The Wager**

Despite what some seemed to believe, Renamon was not someone who preferred her surroundings to be quiet at all times. On the contrary, noise was often a good thing in her mind. It kept her alert to her immediate vicinity, and was often a source of information for her. This wasn't always _new_ information, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

That was the case on this particular afternoon. As she sat on a high branch of tree in Shinjuku Park, her friends and fellow digimon scurried about beneath her. They were playing some game they had come up with on the fly and seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Renamon took a second to focus more closely on the four digimon beneath her, finding that their number had suddenly decreased to three. She began to look around to figure out where her missing friend had disappeared to, only for the answer to drop himself right in front of her.

"Hiya!" Calumon yelled happily.

Renamon made it point to not let her surprise be shown. Calumon knew nothing about subtlety, so the fact that he was able to sneak up on her was more down to her own carelessness.

"Hello, Calumon," Renamon said calmly.

"Wanna play?" Calumon asked, cheery demeanor remaining constant.

"I'll pass, thank you."

"You sure?"

"Eh, don't waste ya time wit dat stick in da mud, Cream Puff," a voice called out from below them, signaling that the game being played had been momentarily paused.

"Yeah, she's too afraid to join us anyway," another added.

Renamon sighed, deciding it was better to face her hecklers now rather than let them go on. She phased out of view and then reappeared on the ground in front of them.

"You think I'm afraid?" Renamon asked, looking right at Terriermon as she spoke.

"That's what I said," he reaffirmed proudly.

"Of what, might I ask?"

"Nothing!" Guilmon cut in nervously. "We all know you're not afraid of anything, Renamon."

"I disagree," Terriermon sang in response.

"What's she afraid of then?" Calumon asked as he landed on the ground at Renamon's feet. He looked between his friends with wide eyes. "Losing?"

"Nope."

"It's pride," Impmon answered confidently, crossing his arms and grinning as he often did when he thought he was correct about something.

Renamon blinked. "Please elaborate," she requested.

"You're afraid dat if you play wit da rest of us, you'll look stupid."

"That's absurd," Renamon stated, knowing no other way to describe Impmon's assessment. She was a warrior at her core, and the notion that she was concerned about appearances was so farfetched that it bordered on insanity.

"Then why do you sit all our games out?" Terriermon goaded further.

"Simple..." Renamon planted her feet and crossed her arms. She wasn't going to give any ground here. "I don't partake because there would be no sport in it. My agility is far greater than any of yours. The game would stop being fun for all of us if I won every time."

Terriermon's grin somehow became larger. "Oh really?"

"I'm only stating the facts."

"Whose facts?"

"Terriermon..." Guilmon whined. He was wise enough to understand that continuing down this path would not yield positive results for anyone.

"Hows about a little wager?" Impmon suggested slyly.

"I'm listening," Renamon replied, her curiosity piqued.

"Tag," Impmon declared. "Da four of us against you. If you can dodge us all for two minutes, you win."

"Any other rules?"

"You can't phase outta view, and we gotta tag you with both hands."

"Fine, I accept your terms." Renamon decided that, at the very least, the exercise wouldn't hurt.

"Hold up," Terriermon cut in again, now stroking his chin like a cartoon villain. "Every good bet has to have stakes."

"Oh!" Calumon chimed in. "What if the looser has to crawl on the ground like Wormmon? Or hop around like Frogmon?"

Terriermon shrugged. "Either works for me."

"Why not both?" Renamon put forward. It made no difference to her what menial task they would have to perform afterwards. "Now can we get started or do the four of you need a minute to come up with a strategy?"

"Feeling generous today, are we?" Terriermon raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"I won't even listen in to your conversation," Renamon assured him.

"Okay..." The four of them gathered in a small circle and began to converse.

Renamon backed away and leaned against the nearby tree and watched. She kept her promise and didn't eavesdrop, but had no reservations about watching them and reading their individual body languages.

Terriermon and Impmon seemed confident, with the former in particular doing quite a bit of the talking. He apparently had a plan that he thought would work. Guilmon still seemed weary about the whole situation, which was not surprising. He had never been very competitive. Finally, there was Calumon, who just seemed happy to be involved.

Eventually their huddle broke and they lined up in front of her. They seemed ready, or at least as ready as they could be given the circumstances.

"On your mark, boys," Renamon taunted.

"Ready, set, go!" Calumon said instantly as he threw himself forward. Predictable, but understandable. He was here to have fun, not win a bet.

Renamon easily sidestepped the tiny Celestial and allowed him to tumble off into a nearby bush. She turned back to the other three, curious what they would try to do.

"Who's next?" Renamon asked, receiving a swift answer.

Impmon and Terriermon broke off into separate directions, with the obvious intent to surround her. A fair enough strategy, if not a little short-sighted. She had plenty of options when it came to dodging them.

Renamon waited a couple second before jumping into the air and onto the closest tree branch in reach. She quickly looked below to see how her opponents would adapt. Impmon stopped short to avoid crashing into the others. The other two kept moving, with it quickly becoming apparent that this was by design.

Guilmon spun around at the last second, allowing Terriermon to catch his tail. After the completion of one full rotation, Terriermon let go and allowed the momentum to send him flying in Renamon's direction. It was a clever trick, one she was disappointed she hadn't anticipated.

All Renamon could do was act on instinct. She propelled herself off the branch and allowed Terriermon to collide with the tree's trunk. She landed back on the ground soon after that, knowing she would have to react again soon.

Impmon leapfrogged off Guilmon and was soon falling downwards at her. In a bit of a compromised position at the moment, Renamon could only roll out of the way at this point. Luckily, Impmon couldn't course correct while in the air and ended up crashing into the spot on the ground she had once occupied.

That only left Guilmon. While not particularly agile, he could shoot straight forward like a rocket and she was currently on the ground with no easy way to dodge. As Guilmon charged, Renamon considered her options before _literally_ springing into action.

Pushing her arms hard against the ground, she launched herself into the air and over Guilmon. As Renamon somersaulted and landed back on her feet, the saurian ended up face-planting hard.

None of them made any immediate attempt to follow up their actions, leading Renamon to conclude she was victorious. She straightened out her posture to address them.

"I guess that's that," Renamon began. "I admit I've had fun, but-"

"Gotcha!" Calumon suddenly cheered.

It took Renamon a couple seconds to register what happened, and even at that point she was unsure how to properly react. What else could she do besides stare at Calumon as he clung to her right arm?

"And with time to spare!" Terriermon joined in as he returned to ground-level.

"So what are ya gonna do first, Fox Face?" Impmon teased as he strolled up to her. "Crawl or hop?"

Renamon glared down at him, but quickly stopped. After all, she had lost on the terms she had agreed upon. She felt her shoulders sink, unsure how to mentally prepare for how she was about to debase herself.

Perhaps pride _had_ been a factor after all.

* * *

_Another short chapter today. This one actually evolved from a random question that popped into my head while writing the last one, which briefly mentions that the digimon are off playing a game on their own. I was stuck wondering if Renamon would join them or not._


	8. Hatchets

_Testing... Testing... Is this thing on?_

Disclaimer: I do not own _Digimon_ or any of its characters. This is a nonprofit, fan-based story. Please support the official release.

* * *

**Hatchets**

Rika glared at the computer screen in front of her, trying and failing to convince it to surrender to her. Accepting that the machine was unlikely to be intimidated, she turned her attention elsewhere in the hopes of getting a different result. While the one other person in the room was unlikely to buckle either, Rika was not one to back down from a challenge.

"I don't want to do this," she stated as definitively and defiantly as she could.

"You never _want_ to do anything," Jeri replied. As usual, she was unfazed by Rika's demeanor.

"I just don't see the benefit to this."

"You mean besides the fact that Henry asked us to test the program?" Jeri was without a doubt better at sounding like a disappointed parent than Rika's actual mother.

Still, Rika wasn't sure what Jeri had been expecting when she arrived at the Nonaka household. Yes, Henry had asked all his friends to test the instant messenger that he had been working on, but that was also why Rika felt she could pass on being a beta tester. He had asked _all _of his friends to test it, and pretty much all of them had agreed to do so. Even Takato, whose relationship with computers was tentative at best, had taken to using the "D-Chat" regularly.

"I'd like another reason, yes," Rika requested, holding onto the false hope that Jeri would just give up.

"Alright," Jeri answered immediately. "Honestly, Rika, this is just as much for your benefit as it is for Henry's."

"Excuse me?" Rika's eyes widened enough that they actually hurt a little bit.

"You heard me. Look, I didn't want to be the one to tell you this-"

"I highly doubt that."

"-but you suck at making friends."

Rika paused and considered protesting, but couldn't bring herself to do so. "So what? I already have enough of those."

Jeri sighed and crossed her arms. "Okay, name five."

"Easy."

"That _aren't_ in this house right now."

_Crap_, Rika thought. Renamon had greeted Jeri upon her arrival, so she was already down two easy picks.

"Still no problem," Rika began as she thought over her choices. "Well, there's Takato and Henry obviously."

"How about the other three?" Jeri probed.

"Don't rush me!" Rika snapped before resuming her line of thought. "Calumon and Guilmon seem to like me."

"They like everyone, but fair enough. Who's your last pick?"

Rika paused again. Other names and faces came to mind, but she couldn't bring herself to admit that any of them were her friends. She looked to Jeri, who had started grinning, likely have determined what was going through Rika's mind.

"You know I go to a different school than you do, right?" Rika asked. "For all you know, I could have plenty of friends there."

"Do you even know any of those girls' names?" Jeri questioned.

"That depends," Rika admitted begrudgingly. "Do you want their real names or the names I gave them?"

"Don't bother. You're only proving my point."

"Whatever..." Rika returned to her computer screen, letting the cursor sit over the program she was being coerced into launching. "I don't see how this thing fixes that."

"Think of this as getting your feet wet." Jeri reached over and clicked the mouse for her. "We have common ground with these people, so getting to know them will be easy."

Rika slouched down in her seat, deciding she could play along for the time being. She glared in Jeri's direction though, as a promise that their debate wasn't over.

Jeri giggled, almost as though she had read Rika's mind. "Oh, don't be like that. You'll have fun."

"No, I won't."

"We'll get to help out Henry, catch up with some old friends..." Jeri had walked across the room at this point and opened her own laptop. "Bury a few hatchets..." she added quietly as she ducked her head behind the screen.

"What was that?" Rika snapped, now more discouraged about what she had just agreed to take part in.

"Hey, I bet the program's done booting up!"

Rika glanced at the computer screen, finding that Jeri was correct. She also found some other users were already logged in, their messages popping up as Rika finished logging in.

_**Sora: **It's about time._

Though she would never admit it to Jeri, Rika felt some relief at seeing Sora's name pop up in the chat. During their brief time fighting alongside the Digidestined, Sora was one of the few of them that Rika was able to get along with. The two of them had stuff in common, and Sora was typically easy to talk to. Rika's one real gripe with the girl was that, like Jeri, she tended to insert herself in and try to solve everyone else's problems, but no one was perfect.

_At least she doesn't _pretend_ to be perfect_, Rika had to remind herself as the next name popped on screen. She definitely didn't harbor any particular fondness for this individual.

_**Kari:** I'm sure they have a good reason for being late._

"Jeri..." Rika growled, her eyes locked on the screen. "What is this?"

"Like I said," Jeri replied innocently. "Burying hatchets."

"No."

"What?"

"I said no."

"Why not?"

"Because..." Rika paused for only a second, knowing that taking any longer would signal to Jeri that she didn't have an answer. "There are no hatchets to bury."

There weren't, and that was the _whole _truth. Yes, Rika and Kari had gotten into a not insignificant argument when they first met. Yes, this argument had been down to Kari being condescending and judgmental while also acting like she could do no wrong. No, Rika did not hold any old grudges. She was _completely_ over the whole experience, so much so that she never needed to talk to the Digidestined of Light ever again.

Rika looked at Jeri, who was already staring back at her. Jeri stayed quiet at first, leading Rika to wonder if she's actually won the argument. Naturally, however, this couldn't be the case.

"Prove it," Jeri finally said.

"What?" Rika responded without really thinking.

"Prove. It. Have a civil conversation in this chat and I'll never bring it up again."

"You're on." Again, Rika's response was more down to instinct than something she had thought out. Before she could even entertain the notion of reconsidering, a notification went off on her computer.

_**Jeri** has joined the chat._

"Perfect!" Jeri cheered. "Okay, remember, no talking out loud. If you have something to say, say it in the chat."

Rika grunted in agreement as she leaned towards her keyboard. She knew she had to start somewhere.

_**Rika: **Hey._

Jeri snorted, but Rika didn't even bother turning to face her. With any luck, the rest of the chat would start their own conversation and she would just be able to sit back and wait for it to end.

_**Sora: **Hey yourself._

_**Kari: **What are you guys up to?_

_**Jeri: **Teaching Rika the value of socializing._

_Why that little... _Rika resisted the urge to look in Jeri's direction. She mentally kicked herself for not predicting that Jeri would basically throw her into the middle of the conversation.

_**Sora: **A noble cause._

_**Rika: **Ha. Ha._

_**Jeri: **It's why we took so long. Getting her to sign in was like pulling teeth._

_**Kari: **Sounds like it would be an uphill battle._

Rika's first impulse after the last message appeared on screen was to shoot a remark back, but she managed enough self-control to hold off. Kari wasn't doing anything the other two weren't and, looking at the situation objectively, was being less antagonistic than Jeri was.

_**Rika: **Can we talk about something else?_

_**Jeri: **Like what?_

Rika waited before typing a response. There weren't any specific topics that interested her at the moment, but she was willing to try anything at the moment.

_**Rika: **I don't know. Ribbons? Flowers? Whatever it is you girls talk about that isn't me._

_**Sora: **Well, I've had enough flowers for one day. Mom made sure of that._

_**Kari: **I'm sure she wasn't that bad._

_**Sora: **"You have to be more delicate, Sora. How can we expect anyone to purchase these if they're not aesthetically pleasing?"_

There was a brief pause before the next message appeared on screen.

_**Sora: **That's my impression of my mother, in case anyone was wondering._

_**Kari: **We gathered._

_**Jeri: **I doubt the rest of us would've had much to say about flowers anyway._

_**Rika: **Next topic then._

Rika sat back, again hoping that conversation might be able continue on without her. For a few seconds, she allowed herself to believe she was in the clear. Then the next message appeared on screen.

_**Jeri: **What did you have in mind?_

"Stop that!" Rika snapped, this time not hesitating to look in Jeri's direction.

"Stop what?" Jeri replied absentmindedly, eyes not even bothering to leave the screen in front of her.

Rika clenched her fist together, restraining herself from yelling again. The way Jeri was acting shouldn't have come as a surprise to her at all. They had made a bet, and of course she would be playing to win. Rika's only real question was whether Jeri's competitiveness was something she picked up from their time together or was who she had been all along.

_**Rika: **Nothing in particular._

_**Kari: **That doesn't help us much._

Rika typed without thinking. It didn't register to her what she had done until after she had sent the message.

_**Rika: **Well, I'm sorry that we all can't be perfect like you, Princess._

There was a more than noticeable pause before the next message came through. Rika made it a point to not look in Jeri's direction. If she did, she would find either a look of triumph or disappointment, and she wasn't in the mood for either.

_**Kari: **Who said I was perfect?_

_**Rika: **It doesn't matter. Let's just forget about it._

_**Kari: **I don't think we should._

_**Sora: **Maybe shifting this conversation in a new direction isn't such a bad idea._

_**Jeri: **Or we let them hash it out._

Rika held off from returning to her keyboard. She was not in the mood for a long talk about her feelings, and knew she had to think of something to avoid this. The problem was that one of the people she would usually turn to for advice on damage control was actively working against her.

_**Kari: **I just want to know what Rika's problem is._

_**Rika: **I don't have a problem._

Admittedly, Rika's own instincts were an issue as well. She found herself wondering if simply yelling what she was feeling at the screen was worth a try, rather than continuing the argument through the chat.

_**Kari: **Yes, you do. Or do you have another way of describing your attitude problem._

_**Rika: **I don't have an attitude problem._

Rika ignored Jeri's laughter.

_**Rika: **I'm just not overly sensitive like some other people._

_**Kari: **There's a difference between being insensitive and being a word that I don't feel comfortable spelling out right now._

_**Rika: **Who's stopping you? Go ahead and spell._

_**Kari: **Maybe I will!_

_**Sora: **Enough! Both of you are gonna stop this right now or, Sovereigns help me, I will use all of my exclamation points!_

Rika took Sora's message as a marker to pull her hands away from the keyboard, and the lack of any immediate message afterwards told her that Kari had done the same. She thought about apologizing just to put an end to things, but she didn't feel like she was entirely at fault here. Nor was Kari, for that matter.

Jeri was at least partially to blame for, having organized the whole thing without bothering to share her intentions first. Jeri being Jeri, her intentions had been in the right place, but they were hindered by the fact that her desire to help people sort out their problems was more of a compulsion at this point. Some things were better left alone to sort themselves out, with third parties causing more issues than solving them.

Ultimately, Jeri was still figuring out the differences between these two kinds of instances. With Jeri being as smart as she was, Rika often wondered if her tendency to not see which conflicts to steer clear of was less her not knowing the difference and more just her aversion to facing her own issues dead on.

Before the D-Reaper, Jeri typically kept her pain and sadness hidden behind a constant smile and a sock puppet. All these years later, the puppet was gone and Jeri tended to be more honest about how she felt. Still, Rika knew better than anyone that old habits died hard. Could she have traded one mask for another?

Realistically, Rika wasn't likely to figure out those answers then and there. With that said, Rika did come up an idea for maybe putting an end to the problem immediately in front of her. She leaned forward and typed slowly.

_**Rika: **Jeri, are you alright?_

"What?" Jeri said under her breath. Rika chanced a glance at her, finding a confused look on her face.

_**Jeri: **Of course. Why wouldn't I be?_

_That's right. Two can play at that game, Katou_, Rika thought as she typed another response.

_**Rika: **I don't know. I just worry about you sometimes._

_**Jeri: **Well, thanks, but I'm okay._

_**Rika: **Are you sure?_

"Stop that," Jeri said, this time out loud and in Rika's direction.

"Stop what?" Rika replied absentmindedly. She knew she just had to draw this conversation out a little longer for the real fun to start.

_**Jeri: **I'm positive._

_**Kari: **And I'm lost._

_**Jeri: **There's nothing to be lost about. Everything is fine._

_**Rika: **Everything?_

_**Jeri: **Yes!_

_**Sora: **You're getting a little defensive, Jeri._

Rika let a small smirk come to her face. She leaned back, having accomplished what she had set out to do. If anyone could give Jeri a run for her money, Sora could.

_**Jeri: **I'm not defensive._

_**Sora: **But something is bothering you?_

_**Jeri: **Yes, this conversation._

_**Sora: **Well, let's talk about that._

_**Jeri: **I don't want to._

_**Sora: **Why not?_

Rika used the moments in between messages to look over to Jeri for her reactions, and was not disappointed by what she saw. It was a decent representation of how Rika had felt a little while ago. By this point, Jeri looked back at her, accusation written all over her face.

_**Jeri: **Because that's exactly what Rika wants. She's making up imaginary personal problems so we don't focus on hers._

Rika waited for the next message to appear, to see if Jeri's last desperate play was enough to swing things back into her favor.

_**Sora: **Maybe, but we don't deal in double standards here. You're obviously upset too._

_**Jeri: **You can't be serious right now._

_**Sora: **Don't worry, Jeri. We're all your friends and we're here to support you._

Jeri gently put her forehead against the table in front of her. After a couple seconds, she lifted it and began typing again.

_**Jeri: **I actually have to go take care of something. I'll talk to you guys later._

_**Jeri **has left the chat._

Jeri gathered her things and moved to the door, sliding it open slowly and deliberately.

"Seriously, though, are you okay?" Rika asked, trying to not let her genuine concern be overshadowed by how amused she was.

Jeri turned around and looked at Rika with a death stare, or at least what could pass for one on Jeri's face. "By no means is this a win for you. We'll finish this another day."

Rika gave no response as her friend finally departed the room. For some reason, she found herself unsure if she should take the threat seriously or not. Rika eventually just shrugged the feeling off.

_What's the worst Jeri could do, anyway?_ Rika wondered as she returned her attention to her own computer. She found a single new message waiting for her.

_**Kari: **Is she going to be alright?_

_**Rika: **Yeah. I'll check on her tomorrow just to be sure._

Rika was going to just turn off the D-Chat without another word, but another message appeared before she could move the cursor.

_**Kari: **Will that be before or after you find a box of kittens to throw into a river?_

Rika took a few seconds to consider her response before actually typing it out.

_**Rika: **I have no issues with kittens. Cat owners, on the other hand, are the ones who have to watch out._

_**Kari: **Are they now?_

Rika sighed before leaning forward to respond again. If it meant putting Kari in her place, she could stay online for a little longer.

* * *

_Coming back to this story after so long was interesting, mainly just due to how few notes I kept about it. That's both in regards to the collection as a whole and this chapter specifically. Despite this chapter being somewhat timely for the world we're currently living in, I actually started it like three months ago and haven't really been able to bring myself to finish it until this point. I did what I could to power through that feeling, so hopefully the next update will come easier._


	9. Catalyst

Disclaimer: I do not own _Digimon_ or any of its characters. This is a nonprofit, fan-based story. Please support the official release.

* * *

**Catalyst**

Calumon was bored.

Not that he hadn't tried his hardest to not be bored, but not being bored was not easy to do. He had tried playing a game, but games were more fun with friends, and no one in the Katou's tavern seemed interested in playing at the moment. He had tried eating, being that the tavern always had some food lying around, but he could only eat so much before that stopped being exciting too.

Well, that or he ran out of food, which did happen _occasionally_.

In desperate times like this one, there was only one person Calumon could turn to. He floated around the tavern, eventually ending up in the stockroom where he found exactly who he was looking for. She was sorting through the bottles of green chili sauce that Calumon was not supposed to ever drink from, no matter what.

"Jeri!" Calumon called out as he dropped himself right in front of the girl, causing her to almost drop one of the bottles. She caught it, though, just like he knew she would.

"Hey, Calumon," Jeri said with a smile. "Is something wrong?"

"You wanna play?"

Jeri sighed. "I told you I would see if I can after the lunch rush." This wasn't the first time this "lunch rush" had kept her from playing, making Calumon wonder why these people couldn't rush to some other meal instead.

"How's that not over yet? It's been like an hour already."

"Calumon, we just spoke five minutes ago." Jeri's words didn't sound right to Calumon, though she had always told him that lying was bad, so he guessed what she had just said was true.

"I don't know if I can wait another fifty-five minutes, Jeri." Calumon was sure that if he waited for her that long he would explode, and probably take the whole building with him.

Jeri didn't reply right away, instead putting her hand on her chin and making the scrunchy face she did when she was thinking. After a few seconds, though, her smile came back.

"In that case, I might have something for you to do," Jeri said.

"What is it?" Calumon asked, now listening as carefully as he could.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Do I ever!" Calumon was excited instead of bored now.

"Are you sure?" Jeri lowered her head to look him straight in the eye. "This isn't just some errand. This is a mission. I need someone brave and reliable to complete it."

"I'm brave and reliable!"

"Okay, here it is: I lent Rika one of my favorite books, and she said she finished it. I need you to go pick it up at her house and bring it back to me."

"Is that it?" Calumon asked quietly, wanting to make sure Jeri didn't have anything else to add.

"That's it. Can I count on you?"

"You betcha! I'll be back with that book before you know it!" Calumon gave Jeri a quick salute before turning around and flying off.

Before even he realized it, Calumon was outside and on his way to Rika's house. Some people gave him weird looks as he floated over their heads, but he quickly stopped paying attention to them pretty quickly. He would do such a great job that Jeri would never trust another mission with anyone else ever again. There was nothing that could stop him.

Calumon stopped as he passed Shinjuku park. He couldn't decide if he should keep going or not. On the one hand, Jeri had said the book was at Rika's house. On the other, Rika spent a lot of time in the park, so there was a good chance she was there now. He thought about it for a _while_ before moving in either direction.

In the end, Calumon decided the best way to complete his mission was to be thorough. He moved into the park in search of Rika. Also, if he stumbled on someone else who wanted to play instead, that wouldn't be so bad either.

Calumon quickly made his way to the Tamers' usual spot, finding a few of his friends were gathered around a picnic table. More specifically, he found Suzie and Kazu playing the Digimon card game while Lopmon, Guardromon, Kenta, MarineAngemon, Ai, and Mako watched. Rika was nowhere in sight, but Calumon decided to approach anyway.

Calumon landed himself on the table, right in between Lopmon and MarineAngemon. "What are we doing?" he asked.

"I'm not even sure anymore," Lopmon answered as she shook her head.

Looking around the rest of the group, everyone else seemed to have different feelings about the game going on in front of them. Kazu had all his attention focused on Suzie as he waited for her to take her turn. Suzie, on the other hand, seemed really tired, almost like she wasn't having fun. Not that Calumon could blame her. He always found this game to be a little boring, involving too much sitting around and doing nothing.

Also, the rules were a bit too convoluted for his taste.

Everyone stayed quiet for a few more seconds, as Suzie looked back and forth between the cards in her hand and the ones in play. Finally, she lowered her hand and looked at her opponent.

"Okay, my turn's done," Suzie said calmly.

"That's it?" Mako asked as he looked at the cards in Suzie's hand and reached for one in particular. "But what about-"

"Quiet!" Ai snapped as she pulled her brother's hand away from the card.

This whole exchange left Calumon a little confused, as he couldn't understand how a card Suzie didn't play could be so special. He must have been the only one who felt this way, however, as no one else said anything. Not even Kazu, who couldn't take his eyes off his own cards.

"Okay, try this one!" Kazu yelled as he slammed one of his cards onto the table. "I'm pretty sure that means I win."

Kenta leaned forward to inspect the game. "It... does."

"Well played, Kazu," Guardromon cheered. "I only doubted you for a second."

"Like I said," Kazu gloated. "No one's better at this game than I am."

"I wouldn't go that far," Kenta commented.

"You know what I mean!" Kazu shot back before looking over to Suzie. "Well?"

"What?" Suzie replied.

"You don't have any comments to make?"

"Nope." Suzie shrugged and went to start gathering her cards. "You won and it's finally over."

For them it was, anyway. Calumon, on the other hand, was still curious about that card. He walked over to it and flipped it over. The first thing that stood out to Calumon was how shiny the card was compared to all the rest, with his eyes drawn to the picture of the Crest of Light in its center.

Again, Calumon didn't really have any experience with this game, so he didn't know what this card did. With that said, how pretty the card was alone should have been enough to make Suzie play it. Jeri had always told him how it was good to get a second opinion when he was unsure about something, so that's what he decided to do.

"What does this card do?" Calumon asked as he held up the card for everyone to see.

"Well..." Kenta answered, pausing for what seemed like a long time to read the card. "...it wins games."

"What are you guys talking..." Kazu moved over and his eyes locked on the card. "...about?"

"That's enough of that, I think," Suzie said as she snatched the card from Calumon and put it back in her deck.

Kazu turned his attention to Suzie. "Was that card in your hand?"

"I mean, who can remember?" Suzie replied with a nervous laugh. "You won that match, like, forever ago."

Kazu's response was to slam his cards back on the table. "Rematch. Right now."

"Why?" Suzie spat back at him. "You just won!"

"Only because you let me. Now shuffle your cards so I can beat you fair and square."

Instead of arguing, Suzie let out a whimper before burying her face in her arms. "I'm really starting to hate this stupid game."

"There, there," Ai said as she placed a gentle on Suzie's back.

"Don't worry, Suzie," Lopmon added as she climbed onto the girl's shoulder. "I'm sure he'll beat you next time."

"No, he won't," came Suzie's muffled reply.

Looking around him, Calumon decided it was best for him to leave. He wasn't interested in watching another game, and his friends all seemed too busy to help him find Rika.

Calumon wandered out of the park, ready to continue his quest. It was then, however, that a familiar smell caught his attention. Deciding that he was no use to Jeri on an empty stomach, he followed the smell all the way to the Matsuki bakery.

With the bakery in sight, the smell wasn't the only familiar thing that Calumon was greeted with. Familiar faces and voices were also waiting for him at the entrance.

"This is outrageous, I tell ya!" Impmon hollered with a fist in the air. "I oughta sue this establishment!"

"Do you even know how to do that?" Guilmon asked in response.

"I could figure it out!"

"What's wrong?" Calumon asked as he landed right next to Impmon.

"Discrimination, that's what!" Impmon jabbed a finger up at Guilmon's face. "Pineapple-head ain't lettin' me in."

"Sorry," Guilmon replied with a shrug. "Mom says you're not allowed inside when we're busy."

"Why?" Impmon raised his voice, and it looked like he was looking around Guilmon to yell into the store. "Because she's a racist?"

"She said you cause trouble for paying customers."

"What? Name one time!"

"Well..." Guilmon placed one of his claws on his chin. "There was that one time when you set that one guy's pants on fire because you wanted the line to move faster."

"You can't prove that was me." Impmon crossed his arms and looked away.

"Oh!" Calumon chimed in. "How about that time he tried telling the customers the pastries were stale so there'd be more at the end of the day?"

"Don't help him, Calumon!"

"Mom also says you take stuff from behind the counter without paying," Guilmon added.

"Hey, a mon's gotta eat! What else am I suppose ta do?"

Calumon paused and looked at his friend. The problem Impmon was dealing with wasn't one he usually had to worry about. Typically, all he had to do was ask nicely and his friends and their families would share with him. Then again, Impmon was never very good at asking nicely. There was also one other thing that he still had trouble doing.

"You should try apologizing to Mrs. Matsuki," Calumon suggested.

"Fer what?" Impmon asked back.

"For all the bad stuff you did."

"What good would that do at this point?"

"Sometimes all people want to hear is that you're sorry." Calumon shrugged. "At least that's what Jeri says."

"J-Jeri?" Impmon sputtered. For some reason, he seemed nervous all of a sudden.

"That's what I think she said anyway." Calumon looked back in the direction he had arrived from. "Do you think we should go ask what she thinks?"

"No!" Impmon jumped into Calumon's path. "I mean, uh... what I'm tryin' ta say is that there's no need ta go involvin' third parties right now."

"You sure?"

"Positive!" Impmon was smiling, but somehow still seemed nervous. "In fact, I think I'm gonna take ur advice so you won't have ta tell Jeri about this. Ever."

"If you say so." Calumon was a little confused, but glad things got sorted out.

Turning around, Calumon was considering going into the bakery himself when his attention was pulled away by someone coming out of the alleyway at the side of the bakery. He turned again, finding this person to be Takato.

"Where are you going, Takato?" Guilmon asked.

"I, uh, have to go take care of something," Takato answered, almost seeming more nervous than Impmon had been just moments ago.

"Do you want me to come?" Guilmon seemed worried all of a sudden.

"N-No, that's okay, boy. It's nothing life-or-death." Takato looked away from them and in the direction he was inching towards. "At least I hope not."

"Okay..." Guilmon replied as his partner took off.

An idea suddenly popped into Calumon's head, one that he felt like he should have thought of sooner. Not wanting to miss a chance to complete his mission, he flew after Takato as fast as he could.

If there was anyone who could take Calumon to exactly where Rika was, it would definitely be Takato. The two of them were best friends, always spending time together. Sometimes, they would even spend that time with no one else around, which seemed a bit odd to Calumon. He had always felt as though the more friends he had around, the more fun he could have. He had even asked Jeri what kind of games Takato and Rika could play on their own, but Jeri's only response had been "I'll tell you when you're older."

Luckily, it didn't take very long to catch up with Takato. Calumon rounded a corner, finding that the boy had stopped to stare inside a store window. Calumon moved closer, only stopping himself from greeting Takato when he realized the store in question was a flower shop. Calumon stared inside as well, trying to figure out what Takato was doing, but soon got tired of waiting for answers.

"Whatcha looking at?" Calumon asked.

"Jeez, Calumon!" Takato jumped backwards before collecting himself. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry." Calumon looked back at the store. "Are you thinking about buying flowers?"

"No..." Takato scratched the back of his head. "Well, maybe... I don't know."

"That's a lot of answers for one question, Takato."

"I realize that..."

"Then you should make up your mind and pick one."

"Probably..." Takato sighed. "I don't think Rika's much of a flower person anyway."

Takato's last statement didn't make much sense to Calumon. Flowers were pretty and smelled nice, so the idea that anyone, including Rika, wouldn't want any seemed like crazy talk. If anything, Takato just needed a little help.

"Or maybe you just have to pick the right kind of flower," Calumon declared as he moved into the shop.

"W-Wait, Calumon!" Takato called after him, probably wanting to thank him for taking the initiative.

Things seemed to have worked out perfectly. Calumon would be able to pick Jeri's book from Rika _and_ leave her a bunch of pretty flowers in its place. He would basically be completing two missions at once!

Calumon paused in the middle of the store, taking a second to look at all the flowers around him. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about the selection wasn't sitting right with him.

"Don't run off like that," Takato said as caught up to him.

A girl trying to organize some of the flowers turned around and approached them. "Do you guys need help with anything?" she asked with a smile.

"We're just browsing, thanks."

"Okay, if you need anything-"

"I got it!" Calumon called out as he jumped into action.

The answer was obvious as far as he was concerned. Takato was so caught up trying to pick one kind of flower when what he should have been doing was getting one of each.

"Okay, first we need one of these," Calumon said as came to some blue flowers and yanked one free from the bunch. He then saw some yellow flowers near by. "Oh, and one of these!"

"Calumon, wait!" Takato yelled as he tried to catch up with him.

"Don't worry, Takato! I've got this!" Calumon continued to pick out flowers. He grabbed a red one, a purple one, a pink one, and even one he couldn't quite describe the color of. He continued this pattern until a pair of hands grabbed a hold of him.

"Gotcha!" Takato called out, though Calumon wasn't too disappointed by this. He was basically carrying all the flowers that could fit into his arms already.

"So how'd I do?" Calumon asked.

"Well..."

Calumon's eyes wandered to the rest of the shop. Somehow, a bunch of flowers and shelves had just fallen to the floor while he had been putting Rika's bouquet together. The girl who worked there just stood over the mess, looking at Calumon and Takato with wide eyes.

"So, uh..." Takato let out a nervous laugh as he held out Calumon and the flowers he had collected. "How much for these?"

* * *

"We should go to that store more often."

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Why not? Shopping there was really fun!"

"Not for all of us..."

Calumon wasn't exactly sure who Takato was talking about. Granted, the girl at the store did seem a little grouchy when she was ringing them up, but maybe she just wasn't used to having that kind of fun. Maybe she would feel better by the next time that he stopped by.

From his spot on Takato's shoulder, Calumon stared at Rika's front gate as they waited for the girl in question to come greet them. For some reason, Takato seemed really nervous. Calumon, on the other hand, was more excited than he had felt all day. He was just seconds away from completing his mission.

Then, just before Calumon was going to jump over the gate to get Rika himself, it creaked open and she stepped out.

"So, what do you want?" Rika asked bluntly.

"T-To bring these to you," Takato answered with a nervous smile on his face. He held out the flowers, some of which were now drooping downward.

Rika accepted them, looking them over with a raised eyebrow. "Well, these are... varied."

"I had some help picking them out."

Rika looked over to Calumon. "Yeah, I bet."

They both went quiet, only staring at each other for the next few seconds. Calumon thought about speaking up to break the silence, but a voice in his head told him not to, and he decided to listen to it for whatever reason.

"So..." Takato began. "I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry."

Rika crossed her arms. "Sorry for what?"

"Huh?" Takato looked confused all of a sudden.

"You don't even remember what it is you said, do you?"

"Hey, I remember everything I said the other day. I'm just..." Takato's voice got lower. "...having trouble figuring out what made you mad..."

Rika looked away from him. "You are so dense, you know that!"

"Okay, first off, that's not news to anyone." Takato's voice sounded like it was getting louder, little by little. "Second, that definitely doesn't explain what you're mad at me for."

Rika glared at Takato. "Well, let me explain it to you then! Have to do it out here though! Inside, you might lose focus and start _ogling_ at my _mom_!"

"Th-That's not... I didn't... I wasn't..." Takato's face turned red, and Calumon could actually feel the heat coming off him.

"Take your time, Goggle-head."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Then what _did_ you mean?"

Calumon wasn't completely sure what was going on, but he also couldn't turn away either.

"_You _made a comment about how you looked like your mom," Takato explained. "And all I said was how that was a good thing."

"You're not helping your case any!"

"I was just being honest!"

"Yeah, honest about how you have the hots for my mother!"

Takato's eye twitched as a bunch of sounds that weren't words came out of his mouth. It seemed like Rika had broke something in his brain. Calumon reached over and tugged on the boy's hair, but didn't get much of a response.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Calumon asked.

"Who cares?" Rika replied, crossing her arms again. "He brought it on himself."

"I think you brought a little of it too."

Rika's eyes locked on Calumon. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The two of you are really close, and you expect people who are close to you to disappoint you," Calumon explained calmly. "Then when they don't disappoint you, it makes you nervous and causes you to fall back on your first instinct, which is to push people away."

At least that was what Jeri had said, right before telling Calumon to not tell Rika she had said it. Though that did seem to go against when she had told him that lying was bad. Calumon decided that this was a fair compromise, with Rika hearing the truth and Jeri not getting in trouble for it.

Speaking of Rika, she hadn't stopped staring at him for the last few seconds. Right before Calumon could ask if she was okay, however, she broke the stare to look over the flowers in her hand. She then looked at Takato, who looked less broken but still nervous.

"Look, Rika," Takato began. "I just-"

"Shut up," Rika said.

"Okay."

"Do you wanna come inside?"

It took Takato a second before he nodded. Rika motioned towards the front door and waited for him to jog up next to her.

"Oh, that's right!" Calumon called out as he jumped from Takato's shoulder to Rika's. "Jeri sent me to pick something up."

"And what was that?" Rika asked.

"I can't remember."

"Of course not..." Rika sighed and rolled her eyes. "That's fine. I think I know what she sent you here for."

* * *

Calumon sat on one of the tavern's bar stools as he watched Jeri quickly leaf through the book in her hand. She then quickly shut it and smiled, which told Calumon that she was satisfied with his work.

"Mission accomplished?" Calumon asked asked with his own smile.

"_Definitely_ accomplished," Jeri confirmed. "Thanks again, Calumon. You're my hero."

"No sweat, Jeri!" Calumon hopped onto the bar. "I had a lot of fun on the way."

"Really? You actually weren't gone as long as I thought you'd be."

"You want me to tell you what happened?"

Jeri looked around the tavern, which was pretty empty at the moment. "Sure, I've got some time."

"Great!" Calumon cheered as he began to tell his story.

Or at least as he began to tell the fun parts of his story. Those were the only bits that really mattered.

* * *

_So, really quick and REALLY belated PSA: In the unlikely chance there's anyone reading this that hasn't started the new Digimon Adventure series, you should definitely give it a chance. Personally, I really enjoyed the first three episodes, and am curious to see where the show goes from here._


End file.
